


Delightful Days

by artikgato



Series: Souyowrimo 2018 [1]
Category: Persona 4
Genre: Clothing Kink, Confessions, Crossover with Persona 3, Cuddling, Established Relationship, Fooling Around, Glasses kink, Implied Parental Neglect, Implied Sexual Content, Kissing, M/M, Morning After, Mutual Pining, New Year's Eve, Pining, Pre-Relationship, Shadow ops, Souyowrimo 2018, Suits, background YukiChie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2019-08-17 14:59:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 19,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16518698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artikgato/pseuds/artikgato
Summary: Various one-shots written during November/December of 2018 for the Souyowrimo challenge. All are Gen - Teen. I'll be posting all NSFW prompts, as well as any that are an AU or prompts that are connected, as separate works in the same series. Chapter length and content will vary. Tags will be updated as I go along.





	1. Day 0 Bonus: Halloween

**Author's Note:**

> Once again, I'm participating in Souyowrimo! For those who don't know about it, it's like a combination of Nanowrimo (wherein writers attempt to write an entire novel in the month of November) and Inktober (wherein artists attempt to produce 31 pieces of art in October, with a different prompt for each day). I'm using [this list](http://ohlookashinysquirrel.tumblr.com/post/178617390412/souyowrimo-2018) for the prompts.
> 
> I'll be posting these at a considerable delay, because a) writer's block caused me to not be able to start on them nearly as early as I wanted to, b) I'm sure I'll get behind later in the month as I have a convention, then Thanksgiving, to contend with, and c) I'm posting them first on my Patreon, then publicly three days later. You can see my progress and find out exactly when I'll be posting each prompt [here on my tumblr](https://artikgato.tumblr.com/post/179859245084).
> 
> And, finally, if you want to read all the prompts I wrote last year, [here's a link to that](https://archiveofourown.org/series/924528)!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a really dumb (but fun!) bonus fic that I wanted to get online relatively close to Halloween.

“Yosuke...what on Earth are you wearing?” Souji asked, and all Yosuke could do was laugh.

“Hey, you said I couldn’t just wear my old werewolf costume again this year. I had to get creative,” Yosuke replied, with a smirk on his face. 

“O...kay, but I was kind of thinking you’d pick...I don’t know, a  _ normal _ costume?” Souji could feel a headache building. 

“Yeah, but that wouldn’t have been any fun. Something about this one...called to me, you know? Like...I don’t know, maybe in a past life or something, I was-”

“You are  _ not _ about to tell me that you really think you were a dinosaur in a past life,” Souji groaned in response, putting his face in his hands.

“I mean, I  _ do _ have the kind of crazy urge to eat grass sometimes,” Yosuke replied, and Yosuke sighed into his hands.

“We are  _ not _ going to the party like this,” Souji muttered, but it was a little muffled due to his face still being in his hands.

“Aww.” Was he seriously  _ pouting _ ?!

“Don’t pout at me,” Souji replied. “You look ridiculous, and you know I love you but I don’t want to show up at the party with you dressed like  _ that _ .”

“Hey, I think it looks cool,” Yosuke defended, and Souji sighed at him, exasperated.

“Do you? Really??” he asked.

“...no. I waited until way too late and there weren’t any other costumes that weren’t stupid or offensive,” Yosuke finally confessed. “It doesn’t look  _ that _ bad, does it? I mean, there are those inflatable t-rex costumes! It’s the same thing, right?”

“It really isn’t,” Souji sighed. “Look, please just change out of that. Nearly anything would be better. We can cut holes in one of the sheets, or something.”

“Well...I mean I  _ do _ still have the werewolf costume, but you said I shouldn’t wear that, so...” Yosuke trailed off, with a shrug. The plastic of the dinosaur costume rubbed together when he did, and it made a horrible noise. 

“...okay, Yosuke, to be honest...the only reason I told you not to wear that is because you’re really, really attractive in it and I was worried I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands to myself at the party,” Souji admitted, blushing and looking pointedly in the other direction, away from Yosuke. 

“Wh-r-really?!” Yosuke yelped. Souji looked back over at him, embarrassed, and nodded. Yosuke’s hand flew to the zipper of the stupid black and white dinosaur costume at light speed. “Well,  _ shit _ , why didn’t you say so sooner?! I’ll get changed right away!”

“B-but, what if I-” Souji stammered in protest, but Yosuke had already thrown the plastic monstrosity off of him, revealing that he’d been in a pair of shorts and a tank top shirt underneath. 

“Nope, too late, getting changed. I guess you’ll just have to keep your libido in check,  _ Partner, _ ” Yosuke replied, as he made a beeline for the closet. Souji watched him go, mouth wide open in shock. Finally, he managed to collect himself, clearing his throat.

“Make sure you remember the collar, Yosuke!”


	2. Day 1: A Holiday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This does have YukiChie and small hints at another pairing, but I didn't want to tag those and clutter up those tags, as they really aren't the main focus at all.

“You know, in America, you’re supposed to kiss someone at Midnight!” 

After her break from stardom, Rise had made a comeback with a vengeance. She’d risen to such popularity that, along with her “rival” Kanamin, she’d had the honor of going on an overseas tour recently. Two of the stops had been in America - New York and Los Angeles, of course - and even though she’d performed all over Europe and in Australia and Korea, she hadn’t stopped talking about America since she had returned to Inaba, just in time for Christmas. 

This was not, by any means, the first of her anecdotes about the bizarre traditions that they had in the United States. This wasn’t even the first of her anecdotes about the bizarre traditions that they had in the United States that involved kissing someone. She’d gone to great lengths to acquire a sprig of mistletoe for the Christmas party they’d had, hanging it in the entry hallway of the Dojima residence with a chaotically gleeful grin. The results had been...disappointing, for her at least. She hadn’t been able to stop herself from pointing it out, and everyone had avoided the spot underneath the plant for the entire duration of the party. Even her attempts at luring Souji underneath the mistletoe had been a failure. Eventually, Teddie had realized that if he stood underneath it and waited, one of the girls was bound to run into him. At that point, Rise had just heaved a sigh and given up, taking it down with a pout.

Now, it seemed, she was trying again.

“That’s weird,” Chie mused, but her eyes still slid over to Yukiko, who was listening with an interested expression as well. “Why do they do that?”

“Who knows, Americans are weird,” Kanji groused. 

“So, what, is it like the mistletoe? If you’re standing next to someone at midnight, do you  _ have _ to kiss them?” Yosuke asked. Rise shook her head.

“It’s not like the mistletoe. It’s more like...oh, how did he put it…? Miguel-san, the costumer for the Los Angeles show...he said something like it was a good way to start the new year? New beginnings, or something? You’re supposed to kiss your significant other...or someone you  _ want _ to be your significant other,” she explained, grinning over at Souji as she finished up her explanation. 

“Ah. That makes sense,” Souji replied, with a nervous laugh. Beside him, Yosuke sighed.

“Rise, if you want to kiss Souji, just  _ ask him _ already,” he told her. She giggled.

“But that’s no fun, Yosuke-senpai!” she replied, and he shrugged.

“Then, I guess the only ones that’ll be kissing at midnight are these two,” he said, gesturing at Chie and Yukiko. Chie went pink, and Yukiko laughed.

“Oh, can we, Chie?” Yukiko asked, and Chie went even pinker, retreating into the neck of her sweater like a turtle. She mumbled something, which nobody but Yukiko could understand, but judging from the way Yukiko practically  _ sparkled _ , it must have been a yes.

“Perhaps one of you lovely ladies would like to give Teddie a New Year’s smooch? Eh, Rise-chan? Nao-chan?” Teddie asked, sweeping his arms dramatically at the two girls, who both just ignored him. Naoto turned to Rise.

“Hypothetically...how do you suppose a polyamorous relationship would navigate such a tradition?” Naoto asked. Rise giggled.

“I guess they’d have to do a threeway kiss!” she answered, with a smirk. Naoto coughed and looked away, with a slight blush on her cheeks. For some reason, Kanji was blushing too. Souji checked his watch.

“There are only about five minutes until midnight...should we turn up the TV?” he asked. They’d put on a local station that was broadcasting a celebration happening in Tokyo, where they were dropping a ball just like in New York. 

“Sounds good,” Naoto prompted. 

“I just had a crazy thought!” Chie announced, as the group of them gravitated towards the TV. “What if the Midnight Channel comes on?” 

“Aw, c’mon, there’s no way that’ll happen, Chie-senpai,” Kanji replied, but he looked a little perturbed. She laughed in response.

“With Adachi-san safely behind bars, there is nobody else that could put anyone in the TV,” Naoto pointed out.

“Guys, the Midnight Channel hasn’t come on in  _ years _ ,” Yosuke pointed out, exasperated. “Not since that weird...P-1 Grand Prix thing with Labrys-san and Sho Whatshisface.”

“I don’t think we have anything to be worried about,” Souji said, and the group instantly calmed down. Even though they hadn’t been the “Investigation Team” in quite some time, they all still listened to him instinctively. Some habits never die. 

Speaking of habits…

“Why don’t we do something to make this extra interesting?” Rise asked. Pretty much everyone in the group eyed her, suspiciously.

“What do you mean by ‘interesting’, exactly?” Chie asked. Rise’s smile sharpened.

“About one minute before midnight, we should all start walking around randomly, and at midnight we have to kiss whoever is right in front of us!” she suggested. 

“That’s a terrible idea,” Naoto said, at the same time Kanji was vehemently saying “No effin’ way!”

The only person who agreed with her seemed to be Teddie. 

“Aw, c’mon!” Rise pouted, and Yosuke sighed.

“Like I  _ said _ , Rise, if you want to kiss Souji that badly--”

“Oh! It’s almost time!” Yukiko announced. What followed was a mad scramble from pretty much  _ everyone _ . Chie fumbled her way over to Yukiko, while Teddie tried to sidle his way up to Naoto only to have Kanji block his path with a frown. In the confusion, Rise grabbed Souji, and--

Turned him to face Yosuke, giving him a playful shove. This caught them both completely off-guard.

“Rise, what--” Souji started, only to be interrupted by the others starting to count down.

“Twelve!”

Rise leaned around Souji and winked at Yosuke, who was giving her a flabbergasted look.

“Eleven!”

Yosuke lifted a hand and set it on one of Souji’s shoulders, prompting him to turn back from where he was trying to look at Rise in utter confusion.

“Ten!”

“Uh, listen, Partner…"

“Nine!”

“Yosuke?”

“Eight!”

“I, uh…"

“Seven!”

Rise gave another shove, nearly knocking Souji off balance and forcing him to grab Yosuke by the waist, to stabilize himself.

“Six!”

Yosuke looked at Souji, their slight height difference forcing him to look slightly up. Souji looked nervous.

“Five!”

Yosuke looked away for a second, taking a breath to seemingly calm himself down.

“Four!”

Yosuke reached up with his other hand and set it on Souji’s cheek, looking determined.

“Three!”

“Is this okay?” Yosuke asked.

“Two!”

Souji looked stunned, but was quick to nod.

“More than okay. Yosuke, I--”

“One!”

Yosuke didn’t (couldn’t) let him finish, surging up the few inches of space separating the two of them and pressing his lips against Souji’s.

“Happy New Year!”

The kiss was...well, kind of rushed. Yosuke had come in too quickly and their teeth had clacked together, and it was obvious they were both nervous and confused. But Souji tightened his hold on Yosuke’s hips, pulling the two of them closer together, and Yosuke moved his hands to circle Souji’s shoulders. Souji tilted his head so that their mouths fit together a little more naturally, and Yosuke gave a contented sigh into his mouth.

They didn’t break the kiss for what felt like ages, but also somehow not nearly long enough. They had just enough time to stare dazedly into each-other’s eyes before they were both startled apart by their friends cheering and clapping. Yosuke turned to look at them like a deer in headlights - he’d  _ actually _ forgotten that they were there, and that it was New Years, and pretty much  _ everything _ that wasn’t Souji Seta’s glorious lips. Souji was blushing, a rare sight, but didn’t look as stunned as Yosuke was. 

“Bout damn time, you two!” Kanji exclaimed, with a smirk. Souji opened his mouth to say something - a protest, maybe, but he was interrupted by Teddie. 

“Wowie, that was a beary big kiss! You two smooched for  _ way _ longer than Chie-chan and Yuki-chan did!” Teddie exclaimed, bouncing over to where the two of them were standing. 

“Um,” Yosuke finally managed, his voice an octave higher than it should have been. He apparently couldn’t think of anything else to add, because he just shut his mouth and looked over to Souji for help. Souji looked equally as confused. They heard giggling from behind them, and turned to find Rise still behind Souji, smirking at them. 

“It was so obvious that you two were crushing on each-other! Someone had to give you that extra push...literally, I guess,” she explained, with a laugh. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

“...was that why you hung up the mistletoe, too?” Souji couldn’t help asking, but she shook her head.

“No, I actually did want a kiss from you back then, Senpai,” she admitted, looking sheepish.

“You say ‘back then’ like it wasn’t literally last week,” Yosuke pointed out. She stuck her tongue out at him.

“Yeah, well, things change, okay? Besiiiiiides, I would have had to have been literally blind not to see the way you two were eyeballing the mistletoe and each-other. Like you were both trying to figure out if there was a way to ‘accidentally’ bump into each-other under it,” she accused, pointing at both of them. She lowered her pitch a bit, doing a terrible imitation of Souji. “Sorry Yosuke, I didn’t see you. Oh, but look, we’re under the mistletoe!” Here, she spoke at a slightly higher, but still somewhat deep, pitch. “Oh well, Partner, I guess we have no choice, right?” 

Yosuke and Souji both looked at her, then at each-other, and then looked away, blushing intensely.

“Y-you’re not wrong,” Souji admitted. 

“Yeah...it was kind of a relief when Ted started standing under it, though, I’m not gonna lie…” Yosuke added. 

“So, there you go! Problem solved!” Rise exclaimed. 

“Teddie didn’t get a New Year’s Smooch, though,” Teddie whined.

“Problem. Solved.”


	3. Day 2 - Glasses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To say that he was surprised when his Partner stepped through the door of their cozy little apartment wearing his new pair of glasses...that was an understatement.

Yosuke had, to the best of his own knowledge, perfect 20/20 vision. He had never needed glasses and, judging by the fact that neither of his parents needed glasses either, he didn’t think he ever would. Thus, whenever classmates and teachers suggested that he get an eye exam, he laughed them off. And he just kept laughing them off, for years, until one day in college. It was literally the only class that he and Souji could attend together - an elective criminal psychology course. And it was, apparently, very popular, because it was being held in a large auditorium. 

Being the stickler for punctuation that Souji Seta was, they always got there early and got seats near the front of the room. Yosuke could see the projected slides that the professor was reading off of just fine. But then, one fateful afternoon, they were late. That...may have been Yosuke’s fault. He might have gotten a little carried away making out with Souji, even though he knew Souji was weak to it. But, regardless, they got to class before the doors were locked to any stragglers, and grabbed seats all the way in the back. 

Fifteen minutes of straining to hear and squinting helplessly at the screen, Yosuke gave up. 

“Man, this sucks. How can anybody see anything all the way back here?” he whispered over to Souji. Souji looked at him, startled, and Yosuke noticed that he had a full page of his usual neatly written notes. 

“Can you not see the screen?” Souji asked, concerned.

“I can, but I can’t make out any of the words on it,” Yosuke replied, a slowly dawning fear creeping up on him. 

“I can see the words perfectly well,” Souji said. He gestured to his right and to the people right in front of Yosuke. “And so can they. Yosuke, I think you might need an eye exam.”

Of course, even though people had been telling him for literal years that he might need glasses, he didn’t believe anyone but his Partner. Of course.

* * *

Souji was, to put it lightly, always busy. It was no different from Inaba, where he had somehow held down four part-time jobs, participated in two clubs, and still had time for friends and other-wordly adventures in the TV. And while he didn’t have to worry about the TV world so much now, he did still have his workaholic nature. He had a part-time job as a barista at a nearby cafe, he had joined  _ three _ student organizations, he would proofread other students’ papers for a little extra cash,  _ and _ he had a full course load on top of the elective criminal psychology course. Yosuke had repeatedly told him that he had no idea how he did all of that, and just thinking about it made him exhausted.

Inaba had made him a master of using a planner to keep his crazy schedule organized. But, in hindsight, he was starting to suspect that he was relying a little too much on the planner, because he had entirely forgotten that Yosuke was having his follow-up appointment with the optometrist today. To, you know, actually pick up his new glasses. 

So, to say that he was surprised when his Partner stepped through the door of their cozy little apartment wearing his new pair of glasses...that was an understatement. He hadn’t been prepared in the  _ slightest _ . 

He hadn’t thought that new glasses would have any effect on him. Maybe he’d think they were cute, or have to reassure Yosuke that he looked fine wearing them. After all, the glasses he’d worn in the TV world hadn’t been more or less distracting than anything else Yosuke wore back then. (To be fair, though, Yosuke made everything he wore look unfairly good, so…)

“Uh, everything okay, Partner? You’ve been staring...do...do my glasses look okay? Nah, who am I kidding, I look like a dork don’t I--”

“They look good!” Souji finally managed to blurt out. Okay, well, if there was ever an understatement, that was it. “Good” didn’t accurately convey just how  _ fucking attractive _ Yosuke looked wearing the small black glasses, the rounded rectangle shape perfectly framing his gorgeous eyes. “Good” didn’t accurately convey the sudden tightness in Souji’s pants, either. 

“You’re just saying that,” Yosuke accused, with a frown. “I look stupid. I tried on so many frames but they all looked terrible on me…” Souji all but scrambled to stand up from where he’d been sitting on the couch, the homework in his lap getting tossed haphazardly to the ground in a way that was very much unlike him, but at the moment he and one goal and one goal only: to get his perfect, hot boyfriend into their bedroom as quickly as possible so he could show him just how wrong he was. 

“I’m being serious, Yosuke, you look hot in them,” Souji assured him, quickly crossing the distance between them to stand in front of him. Yosuke sighed and shook his head.

“I’m glad I only have to wear them for driving and if I need to see long distances,” Yosuke sighed. He reached up to take them off, but Souji intercepted his hand.

“No,  _ really _ ,” Souji repeated. “You look  _ hot _ , Yosuke.” He pulled Yosuke’s hand down and firmly pressed it against the by now very obvious tent in his pants. Yosuke sucked in a breath in surprise.

“R-really?” he asked, and Souji rolled his eyes.

“I don’t normally get this hard just because you walk in the door,” Souji pointed out. “The glasses look good on you, Yosuke.  _ Really _ good.”

“Oh,” Yosuke finally managed, in a small voice, looking up at Souji shyly. Souji hadn’t seen him looking this bashful since very early on in their relationship, and it was igniting a fire inside him. 

“I think...you might need some convincing,” Souji murmured, surging forward and catching Yosuke’s lips in a passionate kiss. Yosuke almost immediately moaned in to his mouth, dropping his book bag and reaching up with his now unoccupied hand to snake it around Souji’s shoulders. Souji let go of Yosuke’s hand and grabbed his hips, dragging the two of them together and grinding his erection against the rapidly forming bulge in Yosuke’s pants. By the time they pulled away, they both looked hot and bothered, hair in disarray and attractive flushes on both of their cheeks. 

“Shall we take this to the bedroom?” Souji asked, and Yosuke moaned.

“Y-yes please,” he gasped in response. 

“Alright, but on one condition,” Souji purred, leaning in close to gently bite at one of Yosuke’s earlobes. He heard his partner make a small whimper in response and couldn’t help smirking. “You have to leave the glasses on.”


	4. Day 3 - Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When he was within arms length, Souji grabbed him and pulled him against his chest, nestling his face into Yosuke’s shoulder and tangling their legs together. It made Yosuke’s heart soar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for implied parental neglect (my headcanon for Souji/Yu's parents is that they don't really /want/ him, but they also don't want to be seen as the kind of parents that just /give away/ their child)

Yosuke always thought that the “morning after” his first time would be...different from this. Very different. For starters, he  _ never _ would have thought he’d be waking up next to a guy, and  _ certainly _ not his best friend. Thinking back on it now, though...he didn’t want to imagine things happening any other way. 

They were cramped pretty close together in the futon, because despite the fact that the Setas’ apartment was fairly big, Souji’s room was actually pretty small. Yosuke had been surprised. It was actually smaller than the Dojimas’ spare room. Meanwhile, the master bedroom and especially the living room were...big. Unnecessarily big. Yosuke didn’t necessarily mind the forced closeness, though. It gave him an excuse to basically wrap himself around Souji, spooning him from behind and keeping them both warm in the autumn chill. This close he could hear and feel the steady breaths Souji was taking in his sleep, and he could see the peaceful look on his face. It was nice. 

He could also see the rest of Souji’s little room. Another surprise had been the fact that the room had looked so similar to how he’d had his room at the Dojimas’. There was a bit of similarity that could be expected, of course, because it was the same person decorating the room, but that wasn’t it. The size and the furniture aside, all of the things displayed on every available surface, all of the books on the shelves, everything - it was all stuff he recognized from Inaba. And it was sweet and heartwarming to notice that many of the gifts he’d given his boyfriend were prominently displayed, but at the same time…well, he’d been expecting (hoping) to see some stuff from before Souji had moved to Inaba. Pictures of him as a kid, maybe, or old toys, or what his music tastes had been like before Yosuke’s influence. But there was none of that.

There weren’t any pictures in the rest of the house, either. Just ‘tasteful’ watercolor paintings, probably meant to evoke a feeling of “the people that live here have money”. 

It was...kind of depressing. No, not just kind of. It made him want to take Souji back with him when he returned to Inaba later in the day. 

“Nnn...Yosuke?” he heard Souji ask, and redirected his attention away from the room and back to his Partner, wrapped in his arms.

“Yeah?” he asked, his voice low.

“Everything okay? You’re squeezing me kind of tight…”

“Oh! Sorry!” He let go and scooted away, and instantly regretted it. He wanted the warmth back. Even moving only a few inches away, the coldness of the blankets was a shock. Souji turned over and looked at him, eyes half-open in sleep, but he looked bereft, too. 

“I didn’t mean you needed to move that far away, come back?” he asked, and Yosuke nodded, shuffling forward. When he was within arms length, Souji grabbed him and pulled him against his chest, nestling his face into Yosuke’s shoulder and tangling their legs together. It made Yosuke’s heart soar. 

“I was just...thinking about how I wish I could bring you back with me when I go home tonight,” Yosuke confessed. Souji made a noise against his shoulder, which he guessed was  agreement. Yosuke started to say something else, but thought the better of it. When Souji had first let him into the apartment, he’d been impressed with the size. But something had felt off about it, and he’d expressed that: it didn’t look like Souji lived there. At all. The shoes at the door were the only indication that  _ anyone _ was there. Souji had looked startled by the remark, and frowned. And when he’d seen the small size of Souji’s room...that had made him angry. He’d said some negative things about Souji’s parents and...well, Souji hadn’t liked that. 

So, now he was quiet. But it still made him livid. Souji’s parents could have easily gotten a different apartment that had a bigger room for Souji. But they hadn’t. They hadn’t and, from the looks of it, they were trying their best to hide the fact that they had a son at all…

So why, then, had they wanted him to come back from Inaba in the first place?

“You’re squeezing me again,” Souji said, still against Yosuke’s shoulder, and Yosuke eased up with a sigh.

“Sorry,” he apologized again. 

“What’s got you so worked up?” he asked, and Yosuke bit his lip. And he lied. Well, it wasn’t  _ exactly _ a lie...it was the truth, just not the truth he’d been thinking about.

“It’s gonna be so long until Christmas,” he complained. “And are you even sure your parents will let you come to Inaba for the winter holidays?” 

“They’ll be in Cancun,” Souji replied. “They won’t miss me. I’ll be there for sure, Yosuke.”

Yosuke bit his lip on another unkind remark about Souji’s parents. Eventually, he managed to respond with “...good. I’m gonna miss you.”

Souji sighed against Yosuke’s shoulder. Then, in a move that Yosuke couldn’t have predicted and wasn’t ready for, he shoved Yosuke onto his back and straddled his hips. He blinked down at him with a lazy, sleepy smirk.

“Let’s make some more memories, then,” Souji purred, and leaned down for a long, languid kiss. 

‘Make more memories’, huh? That had been what he’d said the previous night, when he’d brought up the idea of the two of them going all the way together. When they were apart again, he’d explained, they would be able to think back to these memories they were making, and it would make the wait a little more bearable. Yosuke had tried to argue that it would make the wait  _ worse _ , but Souji had made a pretty convincing argument with his tongue in Yosuke’s mouth. And he was making an even more convincing argument now.

Nothing had changed about their plans for the future. They were still planning on trying to get in to the same university here in Tokyo, and then they would get an apartment together. If anything, now, Yosuke had even more of a reason to study hard and make that happen. He’d make sure they picked out a nice, spacious apartment, and he’d decorate the living room with as many pictures of the two of them, and everyone else back in Inaba, as he possibly could. He’d wallpaper the living room with pictures if he could. And he’d make sure to fill all the space with knick knacks and baubles and  _ proof that Souji was living there _ . And if Souji’s parents ever showed up at the doorstep, he wouldn’t let them in. If Souji’s parents ever tried to get them to break up, as he suspected they were going to, he wouldn’t allow it. 

He’d work as hard as he had to, to make sure Souji never ended up like this again: cramped into a tiny room in a huge apartment, with parents that tried to pretend he didn’t exist aside from when it was convenient to them for him to. 

He tried to pour all of the love he had for Souji into the kiss, and responded to all of his touches as enthusiastically as he could. Souji deserved it. Souji deserved so much. 


	5. Day 4 - Clothes Swap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You do too look good in bright colors, Partner. You just don’t want to give anything that isn’t a shade of gray or blue a fighting chance,” he replied. “But I’ve got some boring clothes you can borrow, don’t worry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a little spicy, not NSFW but at the same time, I wouldn't recommend reading it at work either...you've been warned.

“Have you noticed that the news hasn’t been nearly as accurate at predicting the weather lately?” Yosuke complained. He and Souji were standing just inside the doorstep of the Hanamura household, dripping water onto the floor, chests heaving from having made a mad dash to get inside when the sky had suddenly opened up and dumped buckets of water on them. Souji looked up at him, his waterlogged bangs hanging down over his eyes a little. 

“You think it was because of the Midnight Channel?” he asked. His lips were blue from the cold, Yosuke’s probably were, too. Yosuke had to fight down the urge to kiss him, to get some warmth back into both of their lips. 

“It wouldn’t be the weirdest thing I’ve heard of,” he replied, instead. “We should get upstairs and get out of these clothes, or we’ll catch colds.”

“If you want to get into my pants that badly, you know you can just ask, right?” Souji joked. Yosuke punched him on the shoulder, lightly, in retaliation, and shooed him toward the upstairs bathroom. 

“You’ve got spare clothes in that bag you brought over earlier, right?” Yosuke asked.

“Only pajamas,” Souji replied.. 

“Hmm...and we said we’d meet everyone at Aiya’s in an hour...I don’t know if the clothes you’re wearing now will be dry by then, they’re pretty soaked,” Yosuke commented, watching Souji peel off his shirt and let it drop to the floor with a wet slap. 

“I suppose we could text everyone to meet a little later,” Souji suggested, but Yosuke shook his head.

“Are you kidding? If we make Chie wait on eating meat she’ll eat  _ us _ ,” Yosuke joked. He was in the process of wriggling out of his wet jeans, which was even more difficult than normal when they were soaking wet. When he finally got them off, he dropped them into the pile of his own wet clothes with a triumphant smirk. “You can just borrow some of my clothes, it’s no big deal. I mean, unless you don’t want to disrupt your  _ image _ or something.”

“Hmm...I don’t look good in bright colors, and I feel like that’s all you own…” Souji teased, and Yosuke snorted.

“You do too look good in bright colors, Partner. You just don’t want to give anything that isn’t a shade of gray or blue a fighting chance,” he replied. “But I’ve got some  _ boring _ clothes you can borrow, don’t worry. Just don’t expect anything with a collar.”

“Oh, darn. I guess I won’t be able to hide all of the hickeys you gave me last night,” Souji pointed out, with a gleeful grin. He managed to struggle out of his own pants, leaving both of them in just boxers, hair wet and shivering. 

“You can take the first shower, Partner, you’re the guest,” Yosuke said. He went to reach for a towel to wrap around himself in the meantime, but Souji intercepted him, grabbing his hand and using it to pull Yosuke against his body. 

“Why don’t we shower together, hm? We’ll be done faster that way,” he purred into one of Yosuke’s ears. Yosuke felt a pleasant shiver go up his spine even as his face practically combusted.

“I-I feel like it would actually take  _ longer _ if we-” he started to protest, but Souji interrupted him with a kiss, which he leaned into, helplessly. 

All-in-all, the shower really  _ didn’t _ take that much longer than it would have if they’d showered separately. Even when things got particularly heated between them. Despite his protests, Yosuke was more than willing to sacrifice a little extra time for  _ that _ .

Skin warm, hair dry, and wet clothes in the wash, it was time to get dressed. Yosuke selected a relatively “boring” outfit for Souji, though he couldn’t resist putting in a little bit of color. He tossed a pair of dark green pants and a yellow long-sleeved shirt at him, along with his favorite heavy coat, white and gray with fur inside the hood. Souji held up the yellow shirt with distaste but put it on anyway, while Yosuke got dressed in red pants and an orange jacket. 

“So, how do I look?” Souji asked, and though he was trying to sound playful, Yosuke detected a hint of nervousness. Yosuke looked up from adjusting his pants, only for his jaw to drop.

They were just clothes, but somehow, the way Souji was wearing them was making them look really nice. He looked  _ hot _ , standing there in Yosuke’s clothes. Yosuke felt his face go red as he felt his pants get tight. They had literally  _ just _ fooled around in the shower, what the  _ heck _ was this?!

“Y-you look good,” Yosuke stuttered, his mouth suddenly dry. Souji was a little taller and broader than Yosuke, so the shirt that was a little loose on Yosuke was tight on Souji, tight enough that he could see the faint outline of stomach muscles through it, muscles that he was a huge fan of. He’d also had to wear the pants a little lower than normal, to compensate for the height difference. And the coat! That coat was Yosuke’s favorite for a reason, he wore it all the time, and seeing it on Souji was evoking feelings of...of  _ ownership _ , almost. It was like the coat was saying “property of Yosuke Hanamura, do not touch”. 

Souji definitely noticed the profound effect this was having on Yosuke. Yosuke could tell that he knew, because the shy look had transformed almost  _ immediately _ to a predatory smirk.

“Oho, what’s this? Do you like seeing me in your clothes  _ that much _ ?” he asked, closing the space between them quickly and effortlessly. Yosuke swallowed.

“ _ God _ yes,” he managed to utter, before Souji was kissing him fiercely. Souji pulled away from the kiss with an even  _ bigger _ smirk than before, somehow.

“I guess I should do something about that, hmm?” he purred, rocking his hips against Yosuke’s. His hips that were clad in Yosuke’s pants. Yosuke whimpered in response, but nodded.

In the end, they were late to Aiya’s, and judging by the smirks on Chie’s and Rise’s faces, they knew almost exactly  _ why _ the two of them were late. And Yosuke had to deal with the fact that every time he looked at Souji and saw him wearing  _ his clothes _ , his heart skipped a beat and his stomach dropped, and he had to force himself to focus on other things and think unsexy thoughts.

It was one of the most difficult meals he’d ever eaten.


	6. Day 5 - After School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Anyway,” Yosuke exclaimed. “I was just saying, it’s been weird without you here. It’s only been two days but I miss you -- uh, we miss you.”

This was stupid. He’d just seen him, like, two days ago. And he was probably busy. Yeah, definitely busy, Yosuke shouldn’t even be trying to call him, this was stupid--

“Yosuke?” he heard from the receiver, and he couldn’t help letting out a relieved laugh.

“Hey, man,” Yosuke replied. He knew he probably needed to say why he was calling, but he just couldn’t wipe the big, probably stupid-looking dopey grin on his face at just hearing Souji’s voice. (It had only been  _ two days _ since the train station, his brain tried to protest, but he ignored it.)

“It’s good to hear from you,” Souji replied, and it sounded like he actually  _ meant _ that, like it wasn’t a formality for him to say. 

“You too,” Yosuke replied. “Heh, sorry, you’re probably really busy being popular at your new school, but I just wanted to call and remind you that we still exist out here in the country.”

“I’m not busy,” Souji replied. He could hear the frown in his voice, and he was seconds away from saying something like ‘I’m just kidding!’, but Souji continued. “Just walking home from school. I thought about calling you, too, but I…”

“Didn’t want to seem needy? Heh, same here,” Yosuke filled in. He heard Souji chuckle.

“It’s not the first time I’ve moved to a new school, but this time felt really different,” Souji replied.

“Yeah...that’s why I called. Things just weren’t the same without you today,” Yosuke murmured in response. 

“Yeah?” Souji asked, and Yosuke sighed.

“Chie and Yukiko are in a different homeroom now. I’m stuck sitting behind Hanako!” Yosuke informed him. He quickly looked around to make sure that the very student he was talking about wasn’t lurking somewhere, ready to suplex him into the ground, but thankfully he was pretty much alone walking near the bank of the Samegawa. “ _ Ugh _ ,” he intoned.

“I’ll bet Hanako isn’t going to whisper answers to you,” Souji replied, with a little laugh, and Yosuke groaned. “Looks like you’ll actually have to pay attention in class this year, how awful.”

“ _ Anyway _ ,” Yosuke exclaimed. “I was just saying, it’s been weird without you here. It’s only been two days but I miss you -- uh,  _ we _ miss you.”

Souji definitely noticed his little slip of the tongue, Yosuke was sure of it, but he mercifully didn’t comment on it.

“I miss you too,” he replied, and Yosuke chose to believe that he meant the plural “you” and not the singular “you”. (Though deep down he wanted to believe it was just for him. Who knew? Maybe it was.)

“Have you tried sticking your hand into a TV in the city yet?” Yosuke asked.

“It doesn’t work, of course. Does it still work in Inaba?” 

“Yep. Teddie’s been going back and forth into the TV a lot. He gets bored when I’m not home.”

Yosuke sat down by the bank of the Samegawa on one of the big, smooth rocks that was right in a sunbeam. He felt kind of like a cat like this, tilting his head back and closing his eyes and letting the bright spring sunlight wash over him as he kept talking to Souji.

“So, got a girlfriend yet?” Yosuke asked, and he could almost  _ hear _ Souji roll his eyes.

“Today is the first day of school, Yosuke,” Souji replied, his voice flat. Yosuke laughed.

“Yeah, but I mean, you’re handsome, and nice, and you have good grades.  _ And _ you’ve been gone for a whole year! If I was a girl at your school I’d be all over you, man,” Yosuke joked. He heard Souji give a tiny little sigh. 

“You’re giving me too much credit, Yosuke,” he protested. “And, no. For the most part, everyone has left me alone here. I wasn’t exactly popular before I left.”

“Whaat? No notes in your locker, no flirty looks in your direction? No girls even batted an eyelash at you?” 

“The captains of a couple of the sports clubs got my attention at lunch,” Souji replied. “They want me to join. They said I looked like I got a lot of exercise out in the country.”

“Well  _ that’s _ an understatement,” Yosuke laughed. “What are you thinking of joining?

“Basketball, probably. Kou would be proud,” Souji answered. “I might join the drama club here, too.”

“So no girlfriend, and two clubs...and how many part-time jobs do you have, hmm?” Yosuke asked. 

“...two…” Souji replied, sounding sheepish.

“I’m actually kind of surprised you don’t have more than that,” Yosuke chuckled. “Well, what are they?”

“I’m working in a coffee shop some nights, and a daycare on the weekends,” Souji explained.

“That’s my workaholic partner!” Yosuke replied, cheerfully. He felt a tap on one of his ankles and was startled out of his basking in the sunlight, only to look down and find one of the many stray cats of the area looking up at him. “Oh, hey, one of your cats is here.”

“Which one?” Souji asked, with more enthusiasm than he’d had about basically anything they’d been talking about.

“Uh...the orange one?” Yosuke replied.

“There were a lot of orange ones, Yosuke. Can you give me more specifics? Or maybe send a picture?” Souji demanded. 

“He’s got some white fur on his chin and green eyes...like,  _ really _ green eyes,” Yosuke replied. “I can try to get a picture, but I think I’ll have to hang up if I do.”

“I think I know which one you’re talking about,” Souji replied.

“What did you name it?” Yosuke asked, curious. He hesitantly reached a hand down and let the cat sniff it. It gave a tiny mew and proceeded to headbutt Yosuke’s hand.  His heart melted a little bit.

“Uh…” Souji replied, and Yosuke was momentarily distracted from the cat, because Souji sounded...nervous, somehow? 

“Hmm?” he asked.

“It’s...kind of embarrassing,” Souji replied.

“Hey, hey, you can tell me. What did you name this one after an old girlfriend? A childhood crush? Your favorite Love Line character?”

“...Yosuke,” Souji replied.

“Yeah? What is it, Partner?” Yosuke asked.

“No, no, I...named the cat Yosuke. Be-because it’s orange, right?”

Yosuke was speechless for a second. The phone was silent. The only noises were the river and the furious purring of the cat who...was apparently named after  _ him _ .

“That’s...that’s cool, man,” Yosuke finally managed to reply. “I mean, it’s a little weird, but...I mean, at least the cat’s cute, right? I’m flattered.”

“Good,” Souji sighed. He sounded relieved. “So, how is the cat doing?” 

“He seems to be doing fine,” Yosuke reported. “Doesn’t look like he’s starving, at least. He’s friendly, he...whoa!” The cat had decided that headbutting Yosuke’s hand wasn’t enough and had jumped straight into his lap, plopping himself immediately down across Yosuke’s thighs. 

“What is it?” Souji asked, and Yosuke laughed.

“He just jumped right into my lap,” he explained. “He’s  _ really _ friendly.”

“Yeah, that’s part of why I named him after you,” Souji replied. “You were friendly to me right out of the gate, as soon as we met. Well, that and...uh…”

“Yes?” Yosuke asked. He really wasn’t used to hearing his partner hesitate so much. It was fascinating.

“Don’t be mad. I saved him from a trash can, too.”

“Really?!” Yosuke demanded. He had to laugh at the sheer audacity of it, looking down at the little ball of purring orange fur in his lap. “That’s ridiculous. No wonder you named him after me. I can’t even be mad.” He laughed, and Souji laughed.

“Oh, I’m almost at my apartment, so I should go. It was good to hear from you, Yosuke. You can call any time, all right?” Souji said.

“You too, Partner,” Yosuke echoed. 

“Tell Yosuke I love him,” Souji said. Then, almost immediately. “Th-the cat! I meant the cat! And send me a picture of him, could you?” 

“Sure, Partner,” Yosuke managed to breathe out. “Talk to you later, okay?”

“Yeah,” Souji replied, and then the line went dead, signalling that he had hung up. Yosuke ended the call, dazed, and looked down at the cat, then back to his phone. 

‘Tell Yosuke I love him.’

He planted his entire, tomato red face into his unoccupied hand and let out a long, frustrated groan. 

That hadn’t meant anything.  _ Anything _ . And Yosuke was just going to pretend that hearing it hadn’t made him feel absolutely breathless, on cloud nine, over the moon with joy. Yeah, no. He didn’t have a crush on his  _ male _ best friend who now lived  _ hundreds of miles away _ . Definitely not.

The cat in his lap stretched out and made a contented noise. He sighed and pointed his phone camera at it, snapping a couple of pictures and sending them off to Souji. 

This was going to be a long year.


	7. Day 6 - Shadow Ops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “There’s a uniform?” Yosuke asked. The red-headed lady -- she’d introduced herself as Kirijo -- just gave him a deadpan look in response.

“There’s a uniform?” Yosuke asked. The red-headed lady -- she’d introduced herself as Kirijo -- just gave him a deadpan  _ look _ in response.

“Well, it  _ is _ a valid question, Mitsuru,” the white-haired guy replied, with a chuckle. What was his name again...Sanada? “None of the members they’ve met so far have actually been  _ wearing _ the uniform.”

“And whose fault is that, Akihiko?” Mitsuru asked, glaring over at him. He shrugged. 

“I don’t like fighting in such restrictive clothes,” he explained, and she shook her head.

“You had no trouble with that when we were still in high school,” she pointed out.

“And what about you? A bodysuit and a fur coat?” he taunted.

“I am the head of the Kirijo Group. I need to keep up appearances,” she explained.

“Yeah, yeah,” Akihiko replied, with a cocky grin.

“Um, so, does this mean we don’t have to wear the uniform?” Yosuke finally piped up, eyeballing the perfectly pressed and neatly folded clothes on the table between them. He seriously didn’t think he’d be able to keep up the maintenance that a uniform like that would require...all of the ironing, and steaming, and drycleaning…

Mitsuri sighed.

“During day-to-day operations, yes,” she explained, gesturing to both herself and Akihiko. They were, indeed, both wearing the same uniform that was being presented to them in two neatly folded piles. “But during operations involving Shadows...I suppose not.”

“Uh, so, should we go change now?” Yosuke asked, looking over at Souji, who had been silently standing next to him, contemplating.

“In a moment. We’ll be giving you a tour of the facility, first. Well, Akihiko will be, I have other duties to attend to,” Mitsuru explained. Souji nodded and reached down to pick up the pile, tucking it carefully over one arm, and grabbing the shoes as well. Yosuke copied him.

“Will we only be provided with one uniform?” Souji asked.

“Extras can be provided. And we understand that some of our members are more...capable than others at keeping up with the maintenance,” here she glared at Akihiko again, “So we have fully equipped laundry facilities here on the grounds.” 

Akihiko just laughed and winked at her. She heaved a sigh, but there was still the small grin on her face. 

Before long they had toured the surprisingly large facility. It was publicly listed as a set of warehouses owned by the Kirijo Group, and from the outside it looked like just that, but inside it was a technological marvel that put literally every other building Yosuke had ever been in to shame. He knew next to nothing about science other than the basics that were taught in high school -- he’d managed to avoid science and math electives in college -- but that didn’t stop him from being thoroughly impressed by all the stuff he was seeing. They passed room after room full of complicated looking machinery and electronics on their way to the more mundane parts of the building -- offices, meeting rooms, the break room, the kitchen, the laundry facility, and set of rooms where employees could change clothes. It was here that the tour concluded.

“Whenever you’re done changing, just go straight down this hallway all the way to the end. That’s the meeting room we’ll be in,” Akihiko informed them, before leaving them to their own devices.

They exchanged looks and then entered the mens’ changing room, uniforms in hand. They were surprised to find two lockers that already had their names on them. 

The uniforms also fit well. Scarily well. 

“You didn’t...give them my measurements, did you?” Yosuke asked, after tugging on the jacket to discover that it, just like the pants and shirt, fit him almost like a glove. Souji shook his head, also looking at his uniform, perplexed. 

“...the Kirijo Group is...scary,” Souji concluded, pulling his tie around his neck and effortlessly tying it. Yosuke looked from Souji’s perfect knot to his own, sloppy tie and let out a sheepish laugh.

“Um, do you mind, Partner?” he asked, and Souji chuckled, giving him an indulgent smile. An indulgent smile that looked about a million times hotter than usual, considering how Souji’s uniform fit him so perfectly. Yosuke gulped.

“One of these days, I’m going to teach you how to do it,” Souji teased, making his way over to Yosuke and deftly untying the messy black tie. It wasn’t long before he’d tied it into a perfect twin to his own tie, smoothing it down against Yosuke’s chest and tucking the end into the black vest Yosuke was wearing. He looked up from his work to find Yosuke holding his breath as he watched him. Souji looked him up and down with an exaggerated motion before levelling a smirk at him.

“It looks good on you,” he said. Yosuke finally let out his breath with a wheeze.

“Y-you too,” he stammered, wishing that he could get a grip on himself. He hadn’t been so nervous around Souji since they’d started dating in college,  _ what the hell _ ?!

Souji stole a look around the deserted changing room before leaning into his fiancee and capturing his lips in a slow, sensual kiss that Yosuke couldn’t help melting into with a groan. 

“We-we’re going to be late,” Yosuke protested, but Souji ignored him, one hand snaking around his waist to drag the two of them closer together, the other reaching up to cup one of his cheeks.

“Oh, darn,” he murmured, kissing Yosuke again. Yosuke wasn’t surprised at all when he felt himself get shoved back against a wall. 


	8. Day 7 - Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now he was dead set on getting as many pictures as he could of the stars over Inaba, because…of Souji.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates will be sporadic for a while, I'm at Anime NYC and between getting ready for that and working during the convention I unfortunately haven't had a whole lot of time for writing...

“Ugh, why is it so hard to take a picture of the stars?” 

Yosuke sighed, dragging a hand through his hair in frustration, as he reviewed his latest batch of attempts at capturing the night sky above him. They were all just black, every single one. He pouted in frustration.  

“There’s gotta be a trick to it, or something…maybe I’ll look it up later,” he finally conceded defeat.  

It was funny. Yosuke had never been interested in the stars before, really. Certainly not enough to want to take pictures of them. Sure, he had a couple of pictures of really breathtaking sunsets (and one particularly memorable sunrise) saved on his phone, but that was the extent of his undertakings of any kind of attempt to capture the sky. Until now, that is. Now he was dead set on getting as many pictures as he could of the stars over Inaba, because...of Souji.  

Souji had been in Tokyo for a few months now, and although it was only a couple of weeks before he’d be back to visit again during summer vacation, he missed Inaba, and everyone in it, dearly. He’d told Yosuke so, on many occasions, when they talked on the phone. He’d also told Yosuke that, surprisingly, the thing he missed most about Inaba aside from the people there were...the stars. Sure, they’d gone stargazing a handful of times, both as friends and as...more than friends, but Yosuke hadn’t thought much of it. But it was apparently impossible to see the stars in Tokyo, with all the light pollution.  

So here he was, pointing his phone at the crystal clear sky in one last feeble attempt at catching one of the constellations. And it was, naturally, just a black picture. Ugh. He’d sort this out later. It was stupid, anyway, it wasn’t like pictures of the stars were even good enough! Souji could look at pictures of the stars on his own phone, if he wanted to!

Still, the idea weighed heavily on Yosuke’s mind long after he’d gone home, while he was supposed to be studying. There had to be a way to do it, right? There was no way it was just...impossible, right? Hmm. Maybe he needed a better camera? They were selling some pretty fancy models at Junes nowadays...but would it be weird for him to buy a new camera just to send pictures of the stars to his boyfr---b-boy…

Even in his head, he _still_ couldn’t call Souji...that. Gah, he was pathetic! 

‘How to take pictures of the stars with your phone’, he typed into his search engine. And, surprisingly, there were results! Not just results, but a pretty thorough step-by-step tutorial, too! He glanced over at his window and, sure enough, the sky was still clear. Maybe he could send Souji a picture of the stars after all…

He followed the directions, adjusting his exposure and shutter speed (both things that he was sure he’d never even  _ heard _ of before tonight, let alone realized his  _ phone _ could do). Before long, he was out on his own porch, pointing his camera at the moon. The first few pictures weren’t great, but he could at least  _ see _ stars in them! He had to clean his lens and move away from the house a bit, but eventually he got a couple of really stunning pictures of the sky. 

>Hey, uh, I kno pics wont do it justice but i found a way 2 take pics of the stars w/ my phone u want me 2 send sum? 

He fidgeted with his phone for five solid minutes, nervously awaiting a reply, before concluding that Souji was busy with something. Probably homework which, coincidentally, he really should be doing. So he got to work, reluctantly. After about half an hour of his halfhearted attempts at studying, he heard his phone make a chirp and practically  _ dove _ for it.

>>That’s amazing, Yosuke! Sure, send them over.

He grinned and sent the two best pictures over, along with a message.

>not as gud as the real thing but its still sumthing rite?

>>Thank you, Yosuke. These are great.

>>I wish I was there with you to see the stars in person, but this will tide me over until summer break.

>we can go stargazing tons in the summer prtnr i promise

>>I’ll hold you to it, Yosuke. Thanks again. I really do miss the stars.

>anything 4 u, partner

>ill send u a new 1 every nite

>>I’d like that. 

And then, after a bit of a delay (as if Souji had hesitated to send it), his next message was simply

>> <3

Yosuke still a blush forming, despite himself. Things were still so new between them that he didn’t really know how to react to...well, anything. He’d only realized his feelings were more than platonic  _ after _ Souji left to return to Tokyo, and he’d barely managed to do more than confess during Golden Week. It had been...really busy, what with all the craziness in the Midnight Channel, people getting kidnapped and accidentally falling into TVs and cute robot girls and scary (but attractive) strangers that could also use Personas...it was a miracle he’d managed to confess at all, actually. And now they were...this. They’d talked about it, but they hadn’t gone any...dates yet, so, really, Yosuke couldn’t exactly call Souji his boyf...boyfr… argh!

He threw his hands up in defeat and groaned. Then, he realized he hadn’t replied to Souji’s text.

>Good night, Partner

He blew a breath out through his lips and added, maybe to just to spite himself, 

> <3

Summer break wasn’t far off. He was going to send Souji amazing pictures of the stars every single day until then, and then he was going to sweep his Partner off his feet once he got here. And they were going to do  _ so _ much stargazing. So much.


	9. Day 9 - Summer Vacation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Souji hadn't been able to come to Inaba for his summer break, and Yosuke spend the entire break pouting and moping. But luckily, his friends are here to cheer him up!

“Cheer up, Yosuke!” Chie said, patting him on the shoulder. He made it a point to pout harder and slump further down in his seat with a sigh. 

“Just saying ‘cheer up’ isn’t going to make me cheer up, Chie,” he pointed out. “And besides,  _ your _ significant other is actually here.”

“Hey, I’ve been good! I’ve really been trying not to do any PDA with Yukiko while you’re around!” Chie defended, crossing her arms. Beside her Yukiko barely covered up a laugh. Yosuke gave another mournful sigh. 

“We know you miss Yu-kun,” Yukiko started, looking sympathetic. “We do, too. But please try to at least have a little bit of fun? It’s the last day of summer vacation.”

“Yeah,” Kanji grunted. “And you’ve been moping around for the  _ entire break _ .”

“Sorry, guys,” Yosuke sighed, and he really meant it.

Souji’s parents, despite showing basically no interest in him for the first seventeen years of his life, had decided to take him on a lavish, expensive vacation to America during his summer break. ‘To reward him for all of his hard work,’ they’d said. He’d managed to get into a prestigious college in Tokyo, after all. They had also told him they were taking him on this vacation, coincidentally, after he’d told them he wanted to return to Inaba for his summer break. Souji was pretty certain that they suspected that he and Yosuke were dating, too, even though the two of them had been very careful not to do anything suspicious. 

He hadn’t been able to contact Souji for the entire vacation, either, and had received only sporadic updates from him. All of them had been painfully generic. None of their usual playful banter, or their more recent trend of rather embarrassing flirting. It was driving Yosuke crazy. But as bad as it was, it had to be even worse for Souji, because that probably meant they were reading his emails. 

Souji would be turning eighteen soon, and he and Yosuke already had plans to move into an apartment in Tokyo. Yosuke hadn’t gotten into the same school as Souji, of course (he wasn’t a freaking  _ genius _ ), but that wasn’t going to stop them. They just had to make it to the spring. It really felt like a long time away from now, though. They’d been counting on being able to spend at least part of summer break together, and hopefully the winter holidays, too, but…

“I’ll bet Sensei’s having fun in America!” Teddie piped up. “Do you think he’s gotten to see any bears?”

“I’m sure you’d be the first to know if he did,” Yosuke sighed. He put his head down, resting his forehead against the cool metal table they were sitting at. He almost wished he’d had work today, too. As soon as he’d found out that Souji wasn’t coming back to Inaba for the summer break, he’d asked for as many shifts at work as possible. Anything to keep himself busy, so that he wouldn’t have to miss Souji so much. But his father had given him the day off today. At least he had some money in his bank account now, but…

“It’s a shame that Rise-chan and Naoto-kun can’t be here either,” Chie commented. Rise was on a tour at the moment with her company, and Naoto was in the middle of a case. It really made Inaba feel that much smaller, having so many people missing from their group. 

Yosuke just tuned out the rest of the conversation, trying not to think about Souji and failing, miserably. He knew that Souji loved him, but what if his parents made them break up? What if they got him engaged to some girl? What if they--

“Yosuke, are you listening?” Chie asked, cutting through his increasingly depressing internal thought process. He sighed but looked up from the table.

“Yeah?” he asked.

“We were thinking about going to Okina to see a movie,” she said. She looked a little weird as she was saying it, like they definitely weren’t going to see a movie. He blinked and furrowed his brows at her.

“What are you planning?” he asked, and she looked shocked.

“Nothing! We just thought it would be good to get out of Inaba for the day!” she protested. Very suspicious. He looked up at everyone else. Yukiko looked normal, and Kanji wasn’t looking at him. Teddie looked excited.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Nothing!” Chie exclaimed, sounding panicked. He gave her a look, but decided to drop it. He’d figure it out eventually, or find out when they got to Okina, he supposed. And if they were doing something nice to try to cheer him up, well, at least he could humor them, right?

The train ride to Okina was short, and at least it was air conditioned. Yosuke might have been able to enjoy it, except for the fact that all four of his friends were sitting in a cluster, whispering just quietly enough that he could tell they were talking about him, but not to hear what they were saying. He just stared out the window, getting increasingly frustrated. A chime sounded from his pocket, and he fished his phone out to find a new email waiting from Souji. 

> “Yosuke,
> 
> I’m so sorry I couldn’t email you very often while I was in America with my parents. They kept me very busy, and my phone did not work overseas, so I had to borrow my father’s phone during the trip. 
> 
> I missed you terribly for the entire trip. I want you to know I thought of you a lot, and I hope you were able to have fun on your break without me. I’ll tell you more about the trip later, but for now I just wanted to send you this to let you know that I love you.
> 
> -Souji”

He felt his face heating up, rereading the email several times and especially focusing on the part where it read “I love you”. It wasn’t until he felt the train slowing to a halt as it pulled into Okina station that he remembered where he was. The whispered conversation between Chie, Yukiko, Teddie and Kanji came to an abrupt halt as well.

“Oh hey, we’re here!” Teddie exclaimed, excited. “I can’t wait to s--” He was abruptly cut off by Kanji slapping a hand over his mouth, irritated. Chie gave a nervous laugh and rushed over to him, grabbing him by the shoulders and pushing him out of the train. 

“Hey, let’s go Yosuke! We’ll be late for the, uh, movie!” she said, all but shoving him. 

They were definitely up to something. Yosuke just sighed and decided to play along.

“I don’t get a say in what movie we’re watching, do I?” he asked. He heard Yukiko giggle behind them and rolled his eyes, letting Chie push him out of the train car and out of the station...and in the opposite direction of the movie theater.

“Chie...the theater is the other way,” he pointed out. She gave another nervous laugh.

“Oh, whoops, silly me! But hey, since we’re already going this way, why don’t we keep going?” she asked. He looked over his shoulder at her, giving her an unimpressed frown. “Y’know, take the, uh, scenic route?”

“Won’t we be late for the movie?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. She sighed.

“We ain’t going to see a movie,” Kanji finally said.

“Yeah, we’re going to see S--” Teddie started, but Kanji shut him up again with his hand on his mouth. Yukiko was now in one of her full-blown laughing fits. 

“Is anyone going to tell me what’s going on? Or can I just assume it’s a surprise?” Yosuke asked, folding his arms. He was still letting Chie push him.

“It’s a surprise!” Chie exclaimed. “In fact, we should probably put a blindfold on you. Anybody got anything we can use?” 

“We can use my scarf if you’d like,” Yukiko offered, daintily untying the scarf from around her neck and handing it over to Chie. Yosuke sighed and held still, letting her tie it around his head. He let himself be led around, too. It wasn’t going to do him any good to be annoyed or bitter about things. After all, they were clearly trying to do... _ something _ to cheer him up. What that ‘something’ was, he had no idea. 

“How much further is it?” he eventually asked.

“We’re almost there!” Chie informed him. Eventually, true to her word, she brought him to a halt. “Okay, here we are! Wait right here, okay, Yosuke?” 

“This isn’t a prank, is it?” he asked, irritated.

“Of course not!” Chie exclaimed, and she actually sounded offended. Not a prank then. He sighed and folded his arms, but left the blindfold on to humor her. He heard her footsteps get fainter, and heard her talking faintly to the others, though of course he couldn’t actually hear what they were saying. He heard Teddie give a loud exclamation, only to be cut off midway through - probably by Kanji again. He chuckled a little to himself, but kept still, arms folded and one foot tapping. Eventually he heard footsteps approaching him.

“So what’s this surprise, Chie?” he asked. There was no response, just the sound of the footsteps getting closer as someone approached him. The footsteps sounded a bit too heavy to be Chie’s now that he was thinking about it. Kanji, maybe? “Er...Kanji? Is that you?” 

“Not quite,” said a very familiar voice. Yosuke gasped and his hands flew up to the blindfold, but another pair of hands beat him to it, delicately sliding Yukiko’s scarf off of his eyes. He blinked and his jaw was practically on the floor, because there, right in front of him, was his precious Partner, silver hair glinting in the afternoon sunlight, eyes sparkling with mischief.

“Partner!” Yosuke exclaimed, throwing his arms around Souji’s shoulders. He didn’t even think twice about it. Neither did Souji, apparently, because he felt Souji’s arms squeezing around him.

“I-I thought you were still in Tokyo!” Yosuke accused. Souji laughed.

“I’m supposed to be,” he said. “My parents sent me home ahead of them. I convinced the airport to send me on a flight to the airport a couple of hours from here and took the train the rest of the way.”

“So, that email…?” Yosuke asked. 

“I sent it as soon as I got to Okina...well, right after I texted Chie to ask for her help. I wanted to surprise you.”

“Well, you sure did!” Yosuke sighed, pulling away to look Souji in the eyes. “Best surprise ever.”

Souji grinned and leaned in. Yosuke didn’t hesitate to meet him halfway for a quick kiss. 


	10. Day 13 - Cuddling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yosuke attempts to get his boyfriend out of bed, but Souji just wants to cuddle.

Sunday had to be Yosuke’s favorite day of the week. This was, of course, one-hundred-percent because it was the only day of the week that he and Souji both got to sleep in together. Yosuke’s job allowed him to have both days of the weekend off, but Souji was a teacher, so he still had to get up at an obscene hour of the morning to go to work on Saturdays. But Sundays. Sundays were  _ their _ days. Sundays were the days that they made sure that all of their alarms were shut off. On Saturday nights they double and triple checked to make sure that their cat had plenty of food, so she (hopefully) wouldn’t disturb them the next morning.

Despite the fact that Souji got up at an ungodly hour for five mornings out of the week, Yosuke still woke up earlier than him if they were left to their own devices. Souji was just not much of a morning person, despite his workaholic nature. He took a long time to wake up even with coffee, and often spent most of the morning blinking sleepily while doing everything sluggishly. It was very cute, or at least Yosuke thought so. 

Another perk to naturally waking up earlier than Souji (when alarm clocks weren’t involved) was that Yosuke got to see Souji’s absolutely adorable sleeping face. Souji had woken up and caught him staring a handful of times, and by now they were over their embarrassment. It looked like it was going to happen this morning, too, because he saw Souji start to stir, stretching his limbs out under the blankets and blinking his eyes open. He focused on Yosuke, who was laying on his side beside him, and gave him a frankly heart-melting smile.

“Morning,” Yosuke said, softly, and Souji blinked and yawned.

“Morning,” he mumbled in return. “What time is it?”

“I have no idea,” Yosuke replied. “Want me to check?”

“Nah,” Souji replied, relaxing back into the pillow and closing his eyes. Yosuke chuckled.

“Don’t go back to sleep, don’t we have things to do today?” he asked, and Souji pouted, but kept his eyes closed.

“Those can wait,” he protested.

“We need to clean the house, and do the laundry, and do the dishes, and go shopping,” Yosuke listed, a teasing lilt to his voice. Souji made a grumbling noise. Then, he turned so that he was on his side, burying his face in Yosuke’s chest and snaking his arms around him.

“That can wait,” Souji repeated, against Yosuke’s collarbones. “It’s too cold for that right now, let’s just stay here and cuddle.” Yosuke laughed.

“You’re so needy before you have coffee, Partner,” he teased.

“Shut uuupppp,” Souji whined. Yosuke laughed, but wrapped his arms around Souji and tugged him a little closer, so that they were completely against each-other under the blankets. Souji made a noise that sounded almost like a purr and snuggled into his collarbones. 

“Okay, but we do need to get up in a few minutes. If we don’t get that cleaning done, you’re going to be grumpy about it all week,” Yosuke pointed out, and Souji huffed.

“That’s for awake me to deal with,” he replied. Yosuke laughed.

Just then, he felt a weight on the bed next to him, which he knew was their cat, Mocha, leaping up onto the bed beside them. 

“Look, here’s Mocha. She probably wants to be fed, even though we gave her plenty of food last night, the little moocher,” he informed Souji, who chuckled. Mocha chose that moment to jump up on top of Yosuke, landing gracefully on his ribcage. They paused, Souji extracting himself from Yosuke’s collarbones to look up at their cat. She gave them a little ‘murp’ in greeting, and then laid herself down so that her back paws were still on Yosuke, and her front paws and head were on Souji.

They both laughed.

“Well, we obviously can’t move now,” Yosuke sighed in mock frustration.

“See? Mocha just wants to cuddle too. Let’s spend the whole day in bed,” Souji joked.

“Alright, Partner, you win. But as soon as she moves, we’re getting up,” Yosuke relented. Mocha made another noise and readjusted herself so that she was curled up on her side, blinking up at the two of them. If cats could have shit-eating grins, Yosuke was sure she would have been giving them one. 

Well. He could think of worse ways to spend his Sunday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it isn't November any more, but I'm going to keep going with Souyowrimo until I finish it. Hoping to be done by the end of the year!


	11. Day 18 - Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He had no idea that Yosuke knew it was his birthday, let alone that at that exact moment, Dojima-san, Nanako-chan and the rest of the Investigation Team had descended on the Dojima household to enact Project Give Souji An Awesome Birthday. (Yosuke had wanted to call it “Project My Boyfriend Deserves The Best Birthday Ever” but that was vetoed, naturally.)

Yosuke was halfway through a pancake when he heard a knock at the door, which his mother cheerfully went to go answer. Getting visitors this early in the morning wasn’t uncommon — it was probably just the mailman or one of the neighbors — but it still made Yosuke a little nervous. After all, Namatame had posed as an innocent delivery man in order to kidnap his victims… The case was long since solved, and the true culprit behind bars, but it still put Yosuke on edge. So when he heard his mother say it was for him, he was startled a little bit.

“Uh, coming!” he called, putting down his cutlery and scooting over toward the entranceway. He’d been expecting (hoping) for it to be Souji, but was definitely startled when he caught sight of not Souji but his uncle in the doorway. Before he could stop it, panic raced up and down his spine.

“W-what is it? Has something happened to Souji?” he asked, and Dojima-san blinked in surprise, then chuckled

“No, no, it’s nothing like that. Sorry to startle you, Hanamura. I just have a favor to ask you,” he explained. Yosuke let out a breath he hadn’t realized that he’d been holding, and then corrected his haphazard posture. Of course it hadn’t been anything bad, why had he jumped to that conclusion immediately? He saw Dojima-san giving him a look of...pity, almost? 

“What can I help you with, uh, sir?” Yosuke asked. He still wasn’t sure how to properly address Dojima-san. On the one hand, he was a cop. On the other hand, Yosuke was dating his nephew…

“Souji’s birthday is coming up in a few days,” Dojima started, and he let out a little, faintly irritated sigh when Yosuke reacted in complete shock. “So he didn’t tell you either, did he?”

“He didn’t!” Yosuke replied, indignant. “Then again, I never thought to ask…”

“I wouldn’t beat yourself up over that too much, Hanamura. He didn’t tell me, either. I had to call his parents to find out when it is. They never celebrate it.”

“...they  _ what _ ?” Yosuke asked, dumbfounded. Dojima nodded, solemnly.

“Nanako overheard my conversation with my sister, Souji’s mother. When she asked him what kind of things he did for his birthday...she looked so heartbroken when he told her he didn’t celebrate it.  _ They _ didn’t celebrate it,” Dojima explained. Yosuke frowned. He knew a little bit about Souji’s parents, from what little details Souji had shared with him, and everything he heard made him dislike them more and more. 

“That’s…” he trailed off, biting his lip to keep himself from making any rude comments about them. This  _ was _ Dojima-san’s sister and brother-in-law, after all. He heard Dojima give a gruff chuckle, and looked up at him.

“I know, kid. I know. They’re horrible parents. But that’s why I’m over here, Hanamura: I want to plan a birthday party for Souji. I’ll need you and all of your friends to help,” Dojima informed him. 

Yosuke’s frown almost immediately reversed itself into a huge grin.

“You can count on me, Sir!”

* * *

 

Yosuke was very proud of himself. He’d managed to convince Souji to go out on a date with him, and even came up with a plausible reason to get him out of the house early on his birthday, without Souji getting even  _ slightly _ suspicious. Well, he’d been a  _ little _ suspicious, but only suspicious enough to ask if there was any particular reason they had to see the movie  _ today _ .

“It’s a nice day and there’s an early showing,” Yosuke had insisted. “So once the movie’s done we can walk around Okina and get lunch and stuff.”

That had, as far as Yosuke could tell, completely erased all of Souji’s suspicion. He had no idea that Yosuke knew it was his birthday, let alone that at that exact moment, Dojima-san, Nanako-chan and the rest of the Investigation Team had descended on the Dojima household to enact Project Give Souji An Awesome Birthday. (Yosuke had wanted to call it “Project My Boyfriend Deserves The Best Birthday Ever” but that was vetoed, naturally.)

It was easy enough to keep Souji distracted for most of the day. He seemed totally content to follow Yosuke around into and through all the different shops of Okina, and even out to the nearby park, while Yosuke waited on the fateful text that would signal that the group was almost done with their birthday preparations. They ended up sitting on a park bench side-by-side, Souji’s head on Yosuke’s shoulder with their hands clasped together, watching the wildlife and the sky. It was peaceful. It was incredibly romantic. It was interrupted by Yosuke’s text tone. Yosuke managed to use his free hand to fish his phone out of his pocket and check the text.

“Chie’s asking if we all want to get together at Aiya’s,” Yosuke informed his boyfriend. He felt Souji purposefully drop his weight against him and cling to his arm.

“Can we stay like this a little longer?” he asked, and Yosuke could  _ hear _ the pout in his voice. He barely stopped himself from laughing.

“Alright, alright, five more minutes,” he relented. He texted Chie:

> >Mission accomplished, proceed with phase 5!

“I can’t hog you to myself all day though, you know,” he informed Souji after sending the text.

“But what if I want to hog  _ you _ to  _ myself _ all day?” Souji asked, looking up at him with a face that anyone else would have mistaken as complete innocence, but Yosuke knew better. Souji was teasing him. He laughed.

“I should say no to that, but I can’t,” Yosuke teased back, dropping a quick kiss onto Souji’s upturned lips. He felt Souji smile against him and absolutely  _ melted _ , he loved it when Souji did that. The kiss got a little heated after that, but they were interrupted by Yosuke’s phone again. Yosuke started to pull away, but Souji chased his lips, leaning into him and over him and Yosuke forgot all about his phone. He was so weak for his boyfriend, it was a little worrying.

Two more chimes made him finally put his hands on Souji’s shoulders and push away from him, to Souji’s chagrin. To counter Souji’s (adorable) pouting, he turned his phone around and showed him the string of texts from Chie, which incidentally completely covered the screen now and left no evidence of the party to be seen.

> >> You better hurry up, Hanamura! This place is filling up fast and I can’t keep saving you two seats
> 
> >>If you don’t hurry soon we’re gonna start eating without you
> 
> >>Don’t keep me from my meat! Hurry up!!!!!

“Alright, alright,” Souji finally relented. He got up from the bench and offered Yosuke a hand up, too. Yosuke texted Chie a response, saying simply that they were on their way.

The brilliance of the plan was that they would have to pass close to the Dojima residence on their way to Aiya’s, so Yosuke didn’t have to try to think up some reason why they’d need to go to Souji’s house before meeting up with Chie and the others. And as they were walking toward the house, he didn’t even have to point out that Dojima-san’s car was in the driveway, because Souji noticed right away.

“Oh, Uncle is home. How rare. I wonder if I should ask if he and Nanako want me to bring anything back for them from Aiya’s?”

Perfect.

“I’ll let Chie know that we’re stopping for a second,” Yosuke volunteered, phone already in hand. “Even  _ she _ can’t be mad if Nanako-chan is involved.” Souji snorted, and headed for the house. Yosuke just sent a short text that read “Outside, get ready!”

When Souji opened the door, he jumped back, startled, as a shower of confetti and the cheering voices of their friends and his little cousin greeted him, instead of the silence he’d been expecting.

“Happy birthday!”

He stared at them, dumbfounded, for long enough that Yosuke started to get an uneasy feeling. Had they accidentally gotten the wrong day? Did he not want to celebrate his birthday after all? Was he mad

“How did you know?” he asked, and Chie, who was wedged into the small doorway beside Rise and Teddie, spoke up.

“Come inside, we’ll explain everything!” she said, and with that, everyone who was wedged into the doorway withdrew into the house, aside from Nanako, who held her hand out to Souji.

“Come on, Big Bro! We made you a cake and got you presents and everything!” she said, eyes shining with pride. Souji chuckled and took her hand, shooting a glance over his shoulder at Yosuke, who winked at him.

“Happy birthday, Souji,” he said. Souji allowed himself to be dragged inside, Yosuke following behind, for what was undoubtedly going to be a magical evening.


	12. Day 20 - Working

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Souji has a fever, and Yosuke takes care of him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a really high fever back during New Years', which inspired this.

Souji woke up shivering.

This should really have been the first sign that something was wrong, because he definitely should not have been cold — Yosuke was cuddled up against his side, he was wearing warm pajamas,  _ and _ they were both under a thick comforter. By all accounts, Souji definitely should have been nice and warm.

He carefully dislodged himself from the sleeping form of his fiancee and slipped out of the bed, deciding that a hot cup of coffee was the solution. One hot cup of coffee and two pieces of toast later, and he felt marginally better, so he started preparing bento for both himself and Yosuke to take to work. 

The shivers returned just around the time Yosuke’s alarm started going off, and the fawn-haired man appeared in the kitchen a couple of minutes later, freshly showered and hair damp. He accepted the cup of coffee that Souji held out for him with a curious look on his face.

“Souji, are you okay? You look kind of flushed,” Yosuke commented, setting the coffee down on the counter. He reached down and took the knife that Souji was using to chop up some vegetables out of his hands, frowning when his hand brushed against Souji’s. “Whoa! You’re burning up, Partner!” 

“I...am?” Souji asked, honestly and truly baffled. “But it’s so cold in here…”

Yosuke looked alarmed. “No, it isn’t,” he said. He put the knife down and reached up, pushing Souji’s bangs away from his face with one hand and pressing his palm against Souji’s forehead with the other. “Partner, I think you have a fever.”

“...that would explain some things,” Souji replied, with a sigh. Yosuke let Souji’s hair fall back into Souji’s forehead, brushing it back into place. 

“I’ll go get the thermometer,” Yosuke announced, spinning on his heel and heading for the bathroom, where they kept their medicines. “And I think we have some cold and flu medicine.”

“Make sure you grab the non-drowsy kind, okay?” Souji called after him, scooping up the knife to continue chopping vegetables. Yosuke stopped in his tracks and spun back around to face him, hands on his hips. 

“Partner, why do you want the non-drowsy kind?” he asked, suspicious.

“I still need to go to work, Yosuke. It’s just a fever,” he said. Yosuke frowned.

“Souji Seta,” he said, his tone scolding. That snapped Souji to attention. He put the knife down and blinked over at Yosuke, confused. “I am  _ not _ letting you go to work like this.”

“It’s really not that bad,” Souji insisted, but a shiver wracked his body at exactly the wrong moment. He frowned, and Yosuke approached him, also frowning. 

“It may not be bad  _ now _ but it’ll definitely get worse if you go to work! What if this turns into a flu, huh, what then?” Yosuke asked, and Souji sighed.

“I have an important project due at the end of the week, and—” Souji started to argue, but Yosuke cut him off.

“You’re calling in sick, and so am I, and I’m going to take care of you, damn it!” he interrupted, sternly. Souji opened his mouth to protest, but shut it abruptly. It really was cold in here, and if he was being perfectly honest he felt like garbage, he just wanted to go back to bed and curl up under about fifteen blankets and sleep for a while. 

He’d been working really, really hard for the past two weeks, putting in overtime and everything. He’d kind of already been planning on cashing in on some of his vacation days once the project was done…

“You’ve been working yourself to death lately, Souji,” Yosuke said, snapping him out of his train of thoughts and into the present. Yosuke reached down and took both of his hands in his, and Yosuke’s hands felt chilly in comparison. “Take the day off and let me take care of you, okay? I’m sure your boss would rather you miss a day or two rather than come in with a fever.”

“...okay,” he finally relented. Yosuke grinned, leaning over and pressing a quick kiss to his forehead. His lips felt cold against Souji’s skin, too. Yosuke tugged on him, leading him back toward the bedroom. 

“I’ll go get the thermometer and medicine, and I’ll bring you some tea. You just get back under the covers, alright?” Yosuke instructed, and Souji nodded. He gratefully crawled back into the bed, curling up underneath the thick comforter they always slept under. Even after wrapping himself up in it like a cocoon, though, he still felt cold. 

“Here’s the thermometer,” he heard Yosuke say, and blinked up at him. He regretfully sat up and stuck one hand out of the covers to grab it, popping it under his tongue. Yosuke put a bottle of medicine on the bedside table. “Want me to get you another blanket, Partner?” he asked, because Souji was  _ still _ shivering. Souji nodded, feeling pitiful. Yosuke took the thermometer from him and winced. 

“How bad is it?” Souji asked.

“Pretty bad. Well over 37,” Yosuke replied, making his way over to the linen closet, where they kept spare blankets. He looked back over at Souji before pulling two blankets out of the closet and unfolding them. He draped one around Souji’s shoulders and put the other over his lap, and Souji curled into both, gratefully. 

“What’s the exact number? My boss might ask,” Souji asked.

“38.5,” Yosuke replied, already in the kitchen. “What kind of tea do you want?”

“Hojicha sounds nice,” Souji replied. He tucked his feet under himself and scooted back until he was resting with his back against the headboard of their western-style bed. Ah, finally, he was starting to feel warm and comfortable. His phone made a noise and he looked over at it with a sigh. He should probably call his boss and tell him the bad news. 

Five minutes later, his boss had given him the day off to rest and recover, and he had a steaming mug of hojicha to wash down the enormous pills Yosuke was handing him from the pill bottle. 

“These will probably knock you out pretty quickly, and I know you’re sensitive to medicine like this,” Yosuke started, sitting down next to him on the bed. “I’ll be nearby if you need anything, so just...go ahead and sleep, okay? You’ll be better in no time.”

“Thanks, Yosuke,” Souji replied, draining the rest of his mug of tea. He was already starting to feel a little drowsy.

Souji slept until lunchtime, waking up every once in a while long enough to check the time. He felt  _ awful _ , like even though he was buried under three blankets he just couldn’t get warm enough. He knew he didn’t have an irrational fear of the cold, but his  _ body _ sure wasn’t getting the hint. Thankfully the medicine kept him drowsy, so it was easy enough for him to drift back off to sleep.

He kept hearing Yosuke doing something in the kitchen, but didn’t find out what until he finally woke up and stayed awake around lunchtime. He wrapped the three blankets around himself as best he could and made his way into the kitchen, only to find Yosuke busily stirring something that smelled delicious. Yosuke looked over at him and laughed.

“You look warm,” he teased. Souji grimaced.

“I’m  _ still _ cold,” he grumbled, and Yosuke shook his head.

“This is almost ready...why don’t you have a seat at the table? I’ll bring you a bowl,” Yosuke suggested, and Souji nodded. His head was still a little foggy from the long sleep and the medicine. 

“What is it?” he asked, shuffling closer to the stove and sniffing at the air. 

“...soup?” Yosuke replied, sounding concerned. Souji rolled his eyes.

“I know  _ that _ . What kind of soup?” he asked.

“Chicken and rice. Something simple and nearly impossible to screw up,” Yosuke answered. Souji laughed.

“You’d think,” he said. “But Yukiko tried to make chicken soup once, and...well, it was a disaster. I’m still not sure what she added that made it...turn out the way it did.”

“Was it as bad as Mystery Food X?” Yosuke asked, still stirring. He looked amused.

“Not quite,” Souji said. “It wasn’t quite as...poisonous.”

“Well,” Yosuke started, giving the pot another stir. “I can assure you this is not in any way poisonous.” He lifted a spoonful of broth to his mouth and sampled it, looking contemplative. He picked up the nearby container of salt and added a little, stirring again. 

“I hope so,” Souji replied, with a laugh. 

“Well, I learned from watching you cook, so if it  _ is _ poisonous it’s your fault,” Yosuke teased. Souji laughed and shuffled his way over to the table, rearranging his blankets so that the least amount of skin possible was exposed to the air. Yosuke, who looked like he was getting a little toasty in his short-sleeved t-shirt and sweatpants, shook his head at him. 

Yosuke brought him a big, steaming bowl of soup and a chunk of a baguette, along with another mug of hojicha. Souji blinked down at the soup and the bread, trying to get his fever-muddled brain to tell him what was strange about them, before it dawned on him.

“We didn’t have chicken stock,” he started, looking over at Yosuke, who had just put his own bowl and bread down on the table across from Souji. “Or a baguette.”

“I called in a favor from one of my friends at work,” Yosuke said, with a grin. “I had her bring me some supplies. I would’ve just gone to Junes myself but I was worried about leaving you alone…”

“Thanks, Yosuke,” Souji said, looking down at his soup. He tore off a chunk of bread and dunked it in the soup. It was delicious, of course. “Was it Meiko-san?”

“Yeah, she owed me from last week when I took her shift at last minute,” Yosuke explained. Souji nodded, picking up his spoon and slowly making his way through the bowl of soup. He hadn’t felt it at first, but he was  _ starving _ . The hot soup felt good in his belly, seeming to warm him from the inside, and by the time he was done with the meal he’d shedded two of the three blankets. Yosuke beamed at him.

“Feeling better?” he asked, and Souji nodded.

“For now,” he sighed. “But I have a feeling this is only temporary.”

“Well, take some medicine if you start feeling bad again,” Yosuke said. He stood, collecting the now-empty bowls and mugs from the table and taking them into the kitchen. Souji looked around their modest little apartment, blinking when he noticed a few boxes arranged neatly around the sofa in the living room. 

“Are you cleaning, Yosuke?” he asked, and he heard Yosuke laugh sheepishly from the kitchen.

“Yeah...I  _ was _ just gonna play some video games to pass the time, but taking care of you made me feel like being productive. And I know we’d been meaning to reorganize some of the boxes in the hallway closet, so….” he trailed off.

“Thanks, Yosuke,” Souji said, grinning gently at him when he re-emerged from the kitchen. That was one less thing he had to take care of on his next day off. Maybe they’d actually be able to spend some time relaxing, for once. 

Souji stubbornly held out for a while, wrapping himself back up in the blankets and insistently trying to ignore the shivers in favor of helping Yosuke organize the boxes. Eventually Yosuke had to put his foot down, making him take medicine and go back to bed, despite Souji’s pouting. 

The next time Souji woke up, he was  _ hot _ . The blankets felt stifling and unbearable, and he peeled them away with a groan and got out of the bed. He pulled off the sweater he’d put on at some point to try to combat the chills, leaving him in a tank top and his pajama pants. He made his way into the living room, following the noises coming from the TV. He plopped down beside Yosuke on the couch, and Yosuke paused the game he was playing to looking him over with concern.

“No blankets? Are you feeling better?” he asked, setting down the controller and reaching over to place a palm on Souji’s forehead. His hand felt normal, which was a big relief, but Yosuke frowned when he pulled away. “You feel kinda cold and clammy.”

“The blankets were too hot,” Souji explained. “Actually, it feels a little hot in here.”

“I turned up the thermostat to try to help,” Yosuke replied. Souji noticed that he was wearing a tank top and shorts, and started to apologize, only for Yosuke to hold up a hand. “It’s no big deal, Souji. And anyway, now that it seems like your fever’s broken, I’ll go put the thermostat back to normal.” With that he got up and made his way to the hallway where the thermostat was located, leaving Souji on the couch. When the brunette returned, he stood beside the couch instead of sitting down, looking down at Souji contemplatively.

“Are you hungry, Partner? Want me to warm up some of the soup?” he asked. Souji shook his head.

“Not yet,” he patted the empty spot on the couch that Yosuke had vacated, and Yosuke sat back down beside him, picking up the controller.

“Alright, if you insist,” he said. Souji smiled and leaned against him, watching his fiancee shooting disgusting looking aliens. After a while he started to feel a little chilly, though, the shivers returning, albeit not quite as bad. Yosuke paused the game again when a particularly bad shiver dislodged him from Yosuke’s side.

“Is everything okay?” he asked, and Souji sighed.

“I’m cold again,” he grumbled. 

“I can turn the air back up?” Yosuke offered, but Souji shook his head.

“I think it’s just the fever returning,” he lamented. Yosuke put a hand on his forehead again.

“Well, you do feel a  _ little _ hot, but not quite as bad as before,” Yosuke informed him. Souji shivered again, and he stood up to go retrieve one of the blankets with a defeated sigh. He came back and curled up against Yosuke’s side again, tucking the blanket around himself stubbornly. It wasn’t long before he’d fallen asleep again, though he did put up a valiant fight against the oncoming drowsiness. He didn’t wake up when Yosuke gently laid him down on the couch, but he did wake up when Yosuke called his name and gently shook his shoulder a little later.

“Dinner? I warmed up some of the soup from lunch,” Yosuke asked him. Souji stretched out and nodded, wrapping the blanket around himself like a cloak and heading for the table, still a little sluggish from his nap. Yosuke checked his forehead again when he sat down.

“You still feel a little feverish, but you’re definitely better than before,” Yosuke informed him. He did feel better, the chill that had seemed to be coming from his very bones had receded, at least. “If you take more medicine before bed, I’ll bet you’ll wake up feeling better tomorrow morning.”

“Thanks, Partner,” Souji said, taking a big gulp of soup. It tasted just as good reheated. They ate and returned to the couch. 

“Do you feel up to watching a movie?” Yosuke asked, but Souji shook his head.

“I’ll probably fall asleep in the middle of it,” Souji explained, sheepish. Yosuke nodded and reached for the controller. Souji curled up against him again, feeling his eyelids get heavy as the character on the screen mowed down yet more gross aliens. He woke up on his own a little later, feeling at least marginally better. Yosuke noticed him stirring and paused, setting the controller down.

“How are you feeling?” he asked. Souji took a moment to assess. He still felt a little cold, but he could also tell he was sweating under the blanket. He felt pretty gross, actually.

“Like I want a bath,” Souji replied, with a sigh. “But I think I’ll probably doze off in the bath, too.”

“We could…” Yosuke started, but bit his lip and stopped himself. He looked down at where Souji was still leaning against his side. “We could bathe together— and I promise I’ll keep my hands to myself this time!” Souji chuckled.

“Lies,” Souji teased. “But, hmm, that sounds nice. We haven’t bathed together in a while.”

“We’re both too busy,” Yosuke agreed. “Alright, I’ll go run the bath water.”

True to his word, Yosuke was nothing but a gentleman, helping Souji wash his hair, scrubbing his back for him, and keeping his hands far, far above Souji’s waist. Truthfully, Souji wouldn’t have minded if things  _ had _ gotten a little racy, but he was far too tired to do anything, so it was all for the best. They soaked together in the tub even though it was a little too small for that. The combined effort of soup in his belly and the nice soak and clean pajamas was enough to make Souji feel way better. He downed the medicine and climbed into bed feeling refreshed, if sleepy.

“Good night, Yosuke. Thanks for taking care of me today,” he said, drowsiness making his words slur a little bit. 

“Sweet dreams, Partner. I hope you feel better in the morning,” Yosuke replied, leaning across the bed to give him a quick kiss. Souji settled down onto the pillow with a contented smile on his face, and was out like a light within moments.

The next morning, Souji woke up feeling blessedly  _ normal _ . He wasn’t cold, and he wasn’t too hot, either, just cozy under the blankets with Yosuke beside him. It seemed like a day of rest, and being pampered by his fiancee, was exactly what he’d needed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had a lot going on IRL, but I'm committed to finishing all of these prompts...eventually...


	13. Day 21 - Vacation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Souji gets a bad sunburn...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) This takes place during their honeymoon, but it's not the same story as the wedding fic I'm writing for souyowrimo  
> 2) This one really earns the T rating. It gets a little bit risque, so you've been warned!

“You know, I’m glad that we’re at a hotel and not at home. I’d hate to have to wash all of this aloe out of our sheets,” Souji mused. Yosuke chuckled in response, dumping yet more aloe gel onto his hands and slathering it onto his husband’s back. His husband’s incredibly red, sunburnt back. Souji made a relieved noise as he spread the soothing, cooling gel down his back toward his hips, where the sunburn abruptly faded. The expanse of Souji’s skin that had been under his swim trunks was very pale, a sharp contrast to the angry red of pretty much the entire rest of his body. His shoulders and arms were definitely the worst, but his back was still pretty red. 

Yosuke, meanwhile, had put on  _ far _ less sunscreen and yet his skin was just a couple of shades darker than it had been when they’d set out for the beach this morning. He hadn’t reapplied as often as Souji had, either. He felt bad about it, though, and was determined to do whatever it would take to help out his poor sunburnt husband.

( _ Husband _ , he thought, a little giddy. After months of planning and years of dating he could  _ finally _ call Souji his husband. The wedding had been just  _ yesterday _ .) 

“Want me to get the backs of your legs?” Yosuke asked.

“Yeah,” Souji breathed. He sank down slowly, carefully, until he was kneeling on his hands and knees. He gave a sigh that was part relief and part frustration, and Yosuke paused in dumping more aloe into his hands.

“What is it?” he asked. Souji sighed again.

“It’s only the first night of our honeymoon,” Souji started, starting to try to look at him over his shoulder, only to wince and let out a hiss of pain. “I feel like I’ve doomed us to spending the next three days inside.”

“I don’t mind,” Yosuke replied, easily, squeezing more aloe gel onto his hands and spreading it across the back of Souji’s thighs. “And we can go to the beach at sunset, or even after dark, you know. You haven’t ‘doomed’ us to anything.”

“What will we do during the day?” Souji asked, as Yosuke moved to spread more of the cooling gel down to his ankles.

“Sleep? Watch movies together? Cuddle?” Yosuke suggested. He trailed his hands up the back of Souji’s thighs, and purred, “Sex?”

“Ugh,” Souji groaned, such an unexpected reaction that it made Yosuke pull back his hands and blink response.

“Huh?” he asked, and Souji gave a long sigh. 

“I don’t even want to  _ think _ about how much sex would hurt with my whole body like... _ this _ ,” he groaned. “Being on my back would hurt  _ so _ much, but we couldn’t switch either, because moving my arms and back that much? No way.”

“You seem to be pretty comfortable like this,” Yosuke said, reaching out and gently stroking the backs of Souji’s thighs, where the aloe gel was still cool and slimy on Souji’s sunburnt skin. Souji groaned but shook his head.

“My knees and elbows are already killing me,” he lamented. Yosuke frowned, and Souji carefully and gingerly sat up so that he was putting more of his weight on his shins rather than his knees, wincing at the movement. “Sorry.”

“We have a whole week, Souji, we can get to that later,” Yosuke replied, though he  _ was _ a little disappointed. The contrast between the red sunburn and the paleness of Souji’s ass was  _ doing _ things for him. Maybe they didn’t need to have full-blown sex? With that in mind, he reached down to grab Souji’s pale but firm ass and leaned forward so that he could whisper into his ear. “Maybe you need a little distraction from the sunburn?”

“A distraction sounds nice, but—” Souji started to protest. Yosuke squeezed the soft, pale flesh in his hands and he heard Souji groan in response, cutting off the rest of his reply.

“But?” Yosuke asked. Then, he snickered and squeezed Souji’s ass again. “Butt?” Souji huffed out an unamused sigh at his play on words. “Hey,  _ I  _ think I’m funny.” He leaned closer to his husband and pressed a gentle kiss to one of his shoulders...only to remember, too late, that he was covered in aloe gel. “Bleck…”

“Serves you right,” Souji replied, with a chuckle.

“Ugh, it’s bitter,” Yosuke complained, sticking out his tongue. 

“That’s what I was going to point out,” Souji said, with a shake of his head. “You can’t keep your mouth off of me when we have sex, and I’m  _ covered _ in aloe vera.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Yosuke admitted, with a disappointed sigh. “There’s always tomorrow.”

“Sorry, Yosuke,” Souji started to apologize, again, but Yosuke shook his head.

“Hey, hey now, don’t apologize! The sun is the real culprit here,” he replied, and Souji laughed.

“What, are we going to arrest the sun?” he asked, and Yosuke also laughed.

“If only,” he said. “For now, let’s...hmm, maybe a cold bath?” Yosuke leaned over to grab his phone off of the nightstand and started typing in a search for how to treat sunburns. “I mean, we  _ just _ got that aloe on you, but maybe…”

In the end, Yosuke ended up running out to a nearby convenience store on a mission for his sunburned husband, buying oatmeal and baking soda, and Souji ended up taking the weirdest bath of his life. It may not have been the most ideal — or romantic — first nights of a honeymoon, but they didn’t care. They had all week, after all.


	14. Day 22 - The Metaverse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An encounter in the Metaverse between the "Modern Day Robin Hood" Jiraiya, and Izanagi, the anti-Phantom Thief measure employed by the Kirijo Group.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of a complicated AU and I didn't want to write a lot of backstory or anything and make this chapter 5x longer than it already was, so here's the rundown: the TV world didn't happen in Inaba, and so the IT had a completely normal high school career, but they still all met and became friends. Yosuke moved back to Tokyo to go to college and discovered the Metaverse, inside of which he becomes a costumed character with magical wind powers. He decided to become something like a modern day Robin Hood, stealing from the rich to aid the poor. The Phantom Thieves are a thing, but he's not involved with them, nor does he want to be. The Kirijo Group has a lab inside Mementos, where they are supposedly doing crazy experiments. People that enter the Metaverse via the app gain magical powers and costumes. People that are taken in against their will come back different, if they come back at all. Aaaand that's it, enjoy the fic!

Yosuke pressed himself against cold bricks and frantically fought to catch his breath as he slowly started to slink further and further into the shadows of the alleyway he’d just ducked into. Though stylish (at least  _ he _ thought so), the costume he was wearing wasn’t exactly...subtle. He often wondered why there was so much red and white on a costume that was  _ supposed _ to be a ninja, but it wasn’t like he could do anything to change that. He’d tried dyes and paints and all kinds of modifications, but every single time he transformed it was back to the same reds and whites and camouflage trim. He grimaced and held his breath as he heard footsteps getting closer to the entrance of the alleyway. 

He saw the blur of the person that had been chasing him as it sped past the alleyway, and let out a sigh of relief. His celebration was premature, however, as the footsteps came to a rather abrupt halt, and then all of a sudden the alleyway entrance was filled with the glowing — literally — form of the man that had been chasing him. Piercing silver eyes, made almost white by the power flowing through him, scanned through the alleyway and finally alighted on him.  _ Shit _ , Yosuke cursed, and readied a wind spell to launch him into the sky and continue his frantic escape.

“You won’t get away, Jiraiya!” bellowed the glowing man, who all the newspapers and message boards and tabloids called “Izanagi”. Yosuke simply bent his legs and jumped, using his supernatural control of the wind to propel him far higher than a normal person would be able to go. Or at least that was what he’d  _ intended _ to happen, but his ascent was brought to a very sudden and painful halt as he felt himself get dragged back down by the neck, as Izanagi grabbed one of the ends of his stupid, stupid red scarf. Once again he had to question the practicality of this stupid outfit. (The scarf grew back every time he cut it, naturally.) 

Yosuke didn’t have time to do much of anything before he was  _ slammed _ into the hard ground in the alleyway, and in an instant Izanagi was on him, pinning his hands down and sitting firmly on his legs, a hard look on his face, eyes and hair blazing white with contained electricity. He was making an effort to not let the electricity leak into Yosuke’s wrists, which was nice, but that was probably the only nice part of this whole situation.

“Why did you steal it?” Izanagi asked, his voice a whole heck of a lot more calm than Yosuke would have expected. Yosuke swallowed, his mind racing to try to come up with a plausible lie, or a way to somehow escape, even though he was very much cornered right now. Apparently he took too long, because  _ now _ Izanagi seemed like he was starting to lose his cool a little. “Answer me!” 

“I can’t,” Yosuke finally answered, closing his eyes with a sigh. “If I did, I could be putting people in danger.”

“That’s no excuse,” Izanagi hissed. “You put a lot of people in danger to  _ get _ the medicine in the first place. And what about the people it was supposed to be treating?!”

“I-I only took one dose,” Yosuke replied, trying not to let his voice shake and failing. “And I need it for...a friend.”

He’d already said too much. He opened his eyes and looked up at Izanagi...at  _ Souji _ . “I’m sorry, but she needs it. I can’t…”

“Who needs it?” Izanagi asked, and instead of the hard, commanding voice he was used to, his voice was curious. And quiet. Yosuke swallowed again.

“I can’t tell you that,” he replied. Izanagi sighed.

“I guess I’ll find out one way or another, when your interrogation is finished,” Izanagi said. Yosuke’s eyes went wide, and he started to panic.

“H-hold on a second!” he protested, but Izanagi easily maneuvered so that he was pinning both of Yosuke’s wrists in one hand, and with the other he reached into a pocket and retrieved a cell phone. “Wait!” Izanagi didn’t respond, so Yosuke had no choice but to play his final trump card.

“Please, Souji,” he said, and he saw Izanagi’s—  _ Souji’s _ mouth drop open in shock, watched him whip his head up and away from the cell phone, where he had undoubtedly been about to operate the Mementos app. Shocked silver-white eyes met his, and Souji looked so taken aback that he didn’t speak for a few seconds.

“How do you... _ who are you _ ?” Souji asked, and Yosuke could see some of the darker silver color bleeding back into his eyes. He sighed and closed his own eyes, bright yellow in his transformed state. Then he made a mental effort to will away the transformation that turned him into Jiraiya, letting the magic melt away from him and returning him to his normal self. When he opened his eyes, he was Yosuke Hanamura, with his normal eyes and plain black school uniform, red and orange headphones around his neck. 

To say Souji was shocked was an understatement. He audibly gasped and was quick to scramble off of Yosuke, staring at him like a deer in headlights. “Y-Yosuke?!”

“Sorry, Partner,” Yosuke said, sitting up gingerly and giving him a pained expression.

“Y-you...I...why are you...why are you  _ here _ ?” Souji sputtered, waving his arm around vaguely. He probably meant Mementos and not just the alleyway. “And...and why are you a Phantom Thief?”

“I’m not a Phantom Thief,” Yosuke said, with a shake of his head. “They steal people’s  _ hearts _ . I’m more like…ninja robin hood. Stealing from the rich, y’know?” 

“But you stole from the Kirijo group, Yosuke,” Souji said, his voice pained. The electric glow emanating from him was slowly fading, returning his hair and eyes to their more normal silver color. His costume didn’t fade, however, and Yosuke made a very nervous note of that. 

“I had to,” Yosuke said, around a deep sigh. “They’re the only ones with medicine that  _ works _ right now, and they aren’t selling it to the public. This was a hell of a lot safer than trying to buy some off of a shady drug dealer...I mean, at least I  _ know _ this is the real thing.”

“They...aren’t selling?” Souji asked, eyes wide. “What are you talking about?”

“The stuff they’re selling to doctors doesn’t work. It isn’t as potent, and it’s addictive, on top of that. There are lots of theories going around...I’m actually surprised the Phantom Thieves  _ haven’t _ gone after President Kirijo,” Yosuke explained. Souji shook his head. 

“No, there’s no way she’d…” he bit his lip. “This has to all be a misunderstanding.”

“I’m telling you, it definitely isn’t,” Yosuke snapped in response. “Listen, that medicine? It’s for Saki.”

“Saki Konishi?” Souji asked, and Yosuke nodded.

“A few months ago, she got pulled into Mementos by some bastard that had somehow gotten his hands on the app. She got away from him, but she was lost in here for days. And when she finally found her way back, she was...different,” Yosuke explained. Souji winced. “She’s been sick ever since. Her parents are practically having to empty their savings accounts to get her medicine, but nothing is working. Their last hope was the medicine that the Kirijo group developed, but…”

“Yosuke, listen. I’m sure the medicine isn’t...diluted, or anything. The president doesn’t even  _ want _ to be charging for it, but they’d go bankrupt if they didn’t!” Souji protested. Yosuke frowned.

“I knew you worked for the Kirijos, but I didn’t know you were in bed with the President, man. Then again, she’s hot, you’re hot, so I guess I don’t blame you…” Yosuke heard the words slip out of his mouth in his anger, but couldn’t do anything to stop them. He froze when he realized  _ just _ what he’d said. “Uh, um, I-I mean—”

“Look, just give me back the medicine you stole. I won’t turn you over to the police if you do,” Souji said. His words were nonchalant, but there was a blush on his face that Yosuke could see even around the complicated, pointy helmet he was wearing. “What you stole isn’t even an antidote, it’s a vaccine.”

“A vaccine?” Yosuke asked. He thought back to the precious few moments he’d had inside the Kirijo lab, and immediately facepalmed with a groan. Now that he was thinking about it, he  _ had _ seen the word “vaccine”, but he’d ignored it. He’d been a little too preoccupied with the fact that he’d managed to  _ break into the Kirijo group’s secret Mementos laboratory _ .

“I’ll see what I can do about Miss Konishi. We might be able to get her in for special treatment,” Souji continued, and Yosuke felt his jaw drop open in shock.

“Really?” he asked, and Souji nodded.

“I have a few special favors I can call in. I could get you a job as an anti-Phantom Thief security measure too, if you’d like,” the silver-haired man continued. Yosuke made a scoffing noise.

“And give up my sweet gig as a modern-day Robin Hood? No thank you,” Yosuke joked. Souji sighed.

“You realize that if you keep doing that, I’m going to have to keep chasing you down, right?” Souji asked.

“That’s part of the fun, though, right Partner?” Yosuke replied, with a cheeky wink. He noticed Souji’s cheeks flame with a blush again, to his delight. He fished the small glass vial full of red liquid out of his uniform and handed it out to Souji, who took it from him, cautiously. Yosuke used the opportunity to grab him by the wrist and tug him forward, pulling him into a quick kiss, his unoccupied hand firmly grabbing Souji’s chin. He pulled away to find Souji looking completely shell-shocked.

“Later, Partner,” he said, with another flirty wink, and launched himself directly upwards with a gust of wind, shifting back into his Jiraiya form as he went. Souji could only watch him, dazed, and before Yosuke disappeared from sight he saw Souji bring a hand up to his lips in wonder, a bright blush on his cheeks. He landed on a nearby building and jumped again, the wind carrying him further and further away, until he spotted a nearby park. Landing in a cluster of trees, he let his form return to his normal self and fished his cell phone out of his pocket, hitting the “Mementos” app to return to the real world. As soon as he was back, he opened his contacts and navigated to the one labeled “Partner.”

> So, about that job offer?


	15. Day 23 - Camping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Souji REALLY likes cuddling Yosuke

  1. **Camping**



 

Yosuke flopped onto his sleeping bag face first with a tired sigh. Souji carefully sat down on his own sleeping bag next to the brunette.

“Too tired to cuddle?” he asked. He heard Yosuke heave another tired sigh and watched as he rolled onto his side to face Souji.

“Almost,” he admitted, looking a little bashful. “Today was a lot of fun, but... _ man _ am I tired. And sore!” 

“You didn’t  _ have _ to keep playing volleyball against Chie, you know,” Souji pointed out. Yosuke groaned and flopped over onto his back, motioning to Souji with his arms that he was ready to cuddle. 

“Yeah, but I kept  _ almost _ winning,” Yosuke replied, as Souji eagerly scooted closer to his boyfriend before laying down beside him, tucking his head under Yosuke’s chin and laying on his chest with a contented sigh. Yosuke wrapped an arm around him with a little laugh. “You  _ really _ like cuddling, don’t you?”

“I like cuddling  _ you _ ,” Souji corrected, wriggling so that he was a fraction of a millimeter closer to Yosuke. 

“I’m all skin and bones, I can’t be  _ that _ nice to lay on,” Yosuke replied.

“You’re comfortable,” Souji insisted. Yosuke sighed, knowing the argument was a lost cause. He dropped his other hand onto Souji’s head and started playing with his hair. Souji made a happy noise and closed his eyes. “We really did do a lot today, didn’t we?”

“Yeah, I’m glad we decided to camp instead of going back to Inaba after the beach. I don’t even want to  _ think _ about how tired I’d be,” Yosuke replied, his voice quiet. 

“It was worth it,” Souji said. “I’m glad you all decided to try camping again even though it was terrible for two years in a row.”

“Ugh, yeah, this is  _ much _ better than the school camping trip. I even convinced the girls to let me cook this year, and the trip  _ still _ sucked,” Yosuke complained.

“Well, you can only have so much fun picking up trash and washing dishes,” Souji pointed out. “Of course this camping trip is better. We went to the beach and and  _ didn’t _ have to pick up trash.”

“And we got to have your amazing curry for dinner,” Yosuke added. Then, his voice a bit shy, he continued. “But I mean, this trip was automatically going to be better anyway, because you’re here.”

Souji didn’t say anything, but let his mouth curve into a pleased smile, and snuggled even more against Yosuke, if that was even possible. Yosuke laughed.

“Who knew that Souji Seta was going to be a cuddle monster?” he asked. 

“I am what I am,” Souji replied. “And you know you like it.”

“Can’t deny that,” Yosuke replied, and Souji could just tell from the way he said it that he was blushing. 

“And you like  _ me _ ,” Souji continued, a teasing tone to his voice. 

“Y-yeah, that’s what I said when I confessed, in case you forgot,” Yosuke replied, attempting and failing to play it off as a joke. Souji opened his eyes and sat up just enough to look down at Yosuke, who was indeed blushing furiously.

“And I like you too, just in case you forgot,” Souji said, his voice soft. Yosuke blushed even harder, and Souji couldn’t help but follow his instinctual response, lowering himself down to press a soft kiss to Yosuke’s lips. Yosuke made a surprised noise against his mouth, but before Souji could pull away he found both of Yosuke’s hands in his hair, holding him there and returning the kiss. The group had made smores right before turning in to their respective tents, and Souji could still taste the lingering taste of marshmallow and chocolate in Yosuke’s mouth. It was nice. One kiss turned into two, into three, before Souji finally pulled away and gave a mighty yawn. He glanced back down to find Yosuke staring up at him fondly.

“It’s late, we should get some sleep,” Souji said. Yosuke nodded and they both sat up and moved off of their sleeping bags. 

“Uh, there’s something I want to try, if you don’t mind,” Yosuke said, staring down at his sleeping bag. Souji gave a nod, and Yosuke grinned over at him. “I’ve heard that you can zip two sleeping bags together…” Souji beamed at him in response, and Yosuke laughed. “I guess you like that idea?”

“It sounds so cozy,” Souji admitted. “We have to try it.”

“Let’s do it, Partner.”


End file.
